Municipal Leaders: Develop Faster, Lead Stronger, Build Better
Every week, you’ll get insights and actionable steps to help you navigate personal growth and professional success.
Episode 251 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
How do you go from digging trenches in 100-degree heat to leading a full-service city of 40,000 people?
For Enrico Villegas, City Manager of Hutchinson, Kansas, the answer lies in grit, growth, and an insatiable will to learn.
You’ve been avoiding the conversation with that department head for three months now. You know the performance isn’t where it needs to be. You’ve hinted. You’ve suggested. You’ve hoped the issue would somehow resolve itself. Meanwhile, the rest of your leadership team is watching, adjusting their expectations, and learning that accountability is optional.
Or maybe it’s the opposite problem. You finally had the conversation, but it went sideways. You got defensive when they pushed back. The tension escalated. Now the relationship is damaged and the performance issue still isn’t resolved.
Episode 249 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
There’s a certain kind of chaos that only happens in local government.
You can spend months negotiating a $100 million development deal—balancing politics, logistics, and public pressure—and just when the future of your city hangs in the balance, the next agenda item is… feral cats.
How one partnership turned a podcast, a keynote, and a conference into a statewide celebration of local leadership.
When the Kentucky League of Cities invited me to deliver the opening keynote at their Annual Conference, I saw an opportunity to do something bigger than a single speech. I wanted to create an experience, one that would celebrate Kentucky’s municipal leaders, build anticipation leading up to the event, and continue long after the closing session.
Episode 248 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
In a world that celebrates moving on, Paula Schumacher’s story is about the power of staying.
She began as an intern in Bartlett, Illinois, in 1991. Three decades later, she’s the Village Administrator, leading the same community she once served from the basement of Village Hall.
You wake up at 5:30 AM to clear your inbox before the chaos starts. By 9:00, you’ve already solved problems for three different department heads. Your afternoon is back-to-back meetings where everyone looks to you for answers. You leave at 6:30 PM, exhausted, knowing your team will need you just as much tomorrow.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: you’re not struggling because you’re bad at your job. You’re struggling because you’re too good at solving everyone else’s problems.
This weekend, thousands of local government professionals will gather in Tampa for the ICMA Annual Conference, where innovation meets service, and leadership meets reality.
As you plan your sessions, here’s your chance to get to know the speakers before you hear them live. Each of the leaders below has been featured on The HaltingWinter Podcast, where they shared the stories, lessons, and insights shaping their work in cities and counties across the country.
Episode 246 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What if one day could change your entire career?
For Tansy Hayward, City Manager of Thornton, Colorado, that day came when she shadowed a local government leader as a college student and discovered the purpose that would define her life’s work.
Episode 245 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What would make someone turn down the NFL to serve in local government?
For Ifo Pili, it wasn’t about walking away from football, it was about running toward purpose.
You hired someone with an impressive resume. Great credentials. Solid experience. Stellar references. All the technical skills your department needed.
Six months later, you’re dealing with frustrated staff, damaged relationships, and declining morale. Despite their qualifications, this person is making your team worse, not better.
This is the bleeding neck problem facing local government leaders across North America: we’ve gotten really good at hiring for competence, but we’ve forgotten to hire for character.
