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.
What does it take to lead three towns through a pandemic, manage multimillion-dollar infrastructure without debt, and still have the humility to literally fill potholes in high heels?
There’s a moment in every city leader’s career when you realize something sobering:
You’re making decisions with 80% of the information…
…while the people you serve, and often the people you report to, only see 15%.
Your Monday morning department head meeting sounds like a support group for municipal leaders dealing with impossible circumstances.
“The council doesn’t understand what we actually do.”
“Citizens expect miracles with no resources.”
“If they’d just listen to us, none of this would be happening.”
Everyone nods sympathetically. The complaints feel valid. The frustrations are real.
What makes someone walk away from career stability, a steady paycheck, and a long track record of success—just to step into the chaos and risk of small-town leadership?
For Wesley, the answer goes all the way back to a childhood in England, a handwritten letter to Mensa, and a simple belief: that he was meant to make his corner of the world a little better.
When you think about local government leadership, your mind probably goes to bustling city halls, policy debates, and big-city mayors making headlines. But in the quiet lakefront village of Pentwater, Michigan, where the year-round population barely breaks 900, leadership looks a little different.
And that’s exactly why it matters.
You’re standing before council during budget deliberations when a member challenges your transparency while questioning your department’s spending patterns. Your response in this moment—and a thousand others like it—determines whether you lead with credibility or struggle with constant skepticism.
Reaching 200 episodes of The HaltingWinter Podcast is a milestone and one worth pausing to celebrate. But it’s not just the number that matters. It’s what we’ve built along the way: a community of municipal leaders who are hungry for honest stories, practical insight, and meaningful conversations that help them lead better and live fuller.
That’s why it’s fitting that Episode 200 isn’t just another conversation—it’s a glimpse into the future of local government.
In Episode 199 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, we sit down with Gabe Reaume, City Manager of Saginaw, Texas—a leader whose story reminds us that purpose doesn’t follow a straight line.
It’s 7:30 PM on a Thursday. You’re still at city hall, staring at your computer screen, trying to make sense of budget projections that should have been simple to analyze. You’ve been “working” for twelve hours, but somehow you feel like you’ve accomplished nothing meaningful.
If you’re nodding your head, you’re not alone. Municipal leaders across the country are drowning in the same destructive pattern: confusing busyness with productivity, motion with progress, and hours worked with value created.
But what if I told you there’s a better way? What if you could accomplish more meaningful work in fewer hours, make better decisions under pressure, and finally feel like you’re leading your community instead of just reacting to it?
What do a radio studio and city hall have in common?
More than you’d think.
Before becoming the City Administrator of Festus, Missouri, Greg Camp was a radio DJ, program director, and elected mayor—each role teaching him something vital about communication, connection, and leadership.
