The HaltingWinter Podcast

Christopher Wren: Similar Roles, Different Realities The Shift from Service Delivery to System-Level Leadership Episode 331 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Most people assume that city and county leadership are essentially the same role, just at different scales. They're not. In this episode, Christopher Wren, County Administrator of Newaygo County, Michigan, sha...

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week – Team of Teams Episode 330 of The HaltingWinter Podcast In this episode, Seth Winterhalter breaks down Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal and makes the case that the most important leadership lesson from one of history's most elite military forces has nothing to do with combat. It has everything to do with the structure you've built and whether it's desi...

Justin Hopkins: Before the Tap Runs Dry What Leaders Need to Know About Growth, Scarcity, and the Future of Water Episode 329 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Most people don't think about water…until they have to. But behind every faucet, every development project, and every growing community is a system under pressure and one that most residents will never see....

Lisa Garcia: Not Just a Clerk The Leadership, Influence, and Impact Behind the Title Episode 328 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies May 3 through May 9, 2026, marks the 57th Annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week, and there's no better time to shine a light on one of the most essential and often overlooked roles in local government. In this episode, Seth Winterha...

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week –  The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Episode 327 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Most leadership teams look functional on the surface. Meetings happen. Decisions get made. People stay professional. But if your most important initiatives keep stalling, if the hard conversations keep happening everywhere except the room where they need to happen, and if you've quietly be...

Chase Bruton: Earning Respect, Not Demanding It How Jiu-Jitsu Shapes Leadership in an Increasingly Uncivil World Episode 326 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies What does Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu have to do with running a town? More than you'd think. In this episode, Town Manager Chase Bruton (Yorktown, Indiana) shares how lessons from the mat—patience, positioning, and s...

Matthew von der Hayden: The Leadership Gap No One Is Fixing When Technical Experts Are Thrown Into Leadership Unprepared Episode 325 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Most leaders in local government aren't struggling because they lack effort. They're struggling because they were promoted for their skills and never properly trained to lead people. In this episode,...

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week – Never Split the Difference Episode 324 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Most local government leaders walk into their hardest conversations armed with data, logic, and well-prepared arguments and still walk out without what they needed. In this episode, Seth Winterhalter introduces this week's MLDC book of the week: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, a former...

Helen Ramirez: Built in Silos, Stuck in Complexity Why Projects Stall, Teams Disconnect, and Progress Slows Episode 323 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Local government doesn't lack effort. It doesn't lack talent. And it certainly doesn't lack good ideas. So why do so many projects stall? Why do teams struggle to stay aligned? And why does progress feel slower th...

Jesse Muñiz: The Budget Translation Problem Why Local Government Struggles to Translate Spending into Impact Episode 322 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Local government leaders don't lack data. They lack clarity on what that data actually means. In this episode, Seth Winterhalter sits down with Jesse Muñiz, Head of Customer Success at Tyler Technologies , to unp...

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week –  Culture Renovation Episode 321 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Most culture change efforts in local government fail, not because leaders don't care, but because they're using the wrong approach. In this episode, Seth Winterhalter introduces the key insights from the Culture Renovation by Kevin Oakes, the MLDC book of the week, and why the difference between transf...

Dwight Boddorf: The Municipal Battlefield What It Takes to Lead, Survive, and Win in Local Government Episode 320 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies What does it take to lead when there's no playbook, no margin for error, and the stakes impact thousands? In this episode, Seth Winterhalter sits down with Dwight Boddorf, Borough Manager in Tarentum, Pennsylvania, auth...

Jeffrey Fiegenschuh: Staying Ahead of the Story How Communication Now Defines Success in Local Government Episode 319 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies What does it take to lead a city today? For Jeffrey Fiegenschuh, City Administrator in Washington, Illinois, the answer has shifted. While budgets and infrastructure still matter, the real work now centers on commun...

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week –  The Three Laws of Performance Episode 318 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Every organization has a future already in motion. Not the one in the strategic plan. Not the vision you laid out at the last all-staff meeting. The one your people actually believe; the one shaped by every broken promise, every initiative that quietly died, and every reorg that promised eff...

Monica Dupee: Kindness Over Niceness Why Avoiding Hard Conversations Is Quietly Breaking Your Culture Episode 317 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies What if the biggest threat to your culture isn't conflict…but your desire to avoid it? In this conversation, Seth Winterhalter chats with Monica Dupee, City Manager in Westerville, Ohio, who shares a candid look at the...

Jennifer Callaway: Leading What You Don't Know Why Great Leaders Trust People More Than Their Own Expertise Episode 316 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Most leaders feel the pressure to have the answers. To be the expert. To walk into every room with clarity, confidence, and control. But what if that's not what great leadership actually requires? In this conversa...

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week –  Leading With Questions Episode 315 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Most local government leaders were promoted because they had the best answers. But what if that instinct—the automatic move toward the answer—is quietly limiting the people around you? In this episode, Seth Winterhalter introduces the MLDC book of the week: Leading with Questions by Michael J. Marq...

Peter Pirnejad: Leading Before You're Ready The Hidden Crisis Facing the Next Generation of City Managers Episode 314 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Local government leadership has changed. Not gradually. Not subtly. But quickly and in ways most leaders weren't prepared for. In this episode, Seth Winterhalter sits down with Dr. Peter Pirnejad, former city manage...

Chris Fabian: The Story Your Budget Is Telling How Leaders Align Resources, Priorities, and Outcomes to Drive Impact Episode 313 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Local government leaders don't struggle because they lack resources. They struggle because they lack clarity on where those resources are actually going and whether they're aligned with what matters most....

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week –  Turn the Ship Around Episode 312 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Most local government organizations are built on a model that quietly undermines the people inside them. One person at the top makes the calls. Everyone else executes. Information travels up. Decisions travel down. And your most capable people (the ones with the most context, the most experience, the...

Jerry Gabrielatos: Artificial Intelligence and the Stewardship of Time Reclaiming Capacity to Better Serve Your Community Episode 311 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies Artificial Intelligence is no longer a future conversation; it's here. And for local government leaders, the real question isn't  whether to use it…it's what you do with the time it gives back. In th...

Benjamin Bitter: Impact Over Title Why Great City Managers Focus on People, Not Position Episode 310 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies What does it really mean to lead in local government? For Benjamin Bitter, City Manager of Maricopa, Arizona, the answer is simple, but not easy: It's not about the title. It's about the impact. In this conversation, Benjamin shares...

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week –  Inner Excellence Episode 309 of The HaltingWinter Podcast This week inside the Municipal Leadership Development Circle, we're exploring "Inner Excellence" by Jim Murphy, a book that went from obscurity to #1 New York Times bestseller overnight when Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was caught reading it during an NFL playoff game. Why did elite performers recogni...

Jessica Leavins: Called to Care Empathy, Public Scrutiny, and the Weight of Municipal Leadership Episode 308 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies What prepares someone to become a city manager? For Jessica Leavins, it wasn't a lifelong plan. It was a calling shaped by family roots, social work, organizational psychology, and a deep desire to serve people well. In this...

Josh Finch: From Manure to Management Rejection, Resilience, and the Making of a City Administrator Episode 307 of The HaltingWinter Podcast Brought to you by  Tyler Technologies There is no "perfect" path into city management. Josh Finch proves it. From shoveling manure as a seasonal parks laborer to becoming a city administrator at 24, Josh's journey into local government wasn't traditional; it...