Municipal Leaders: Develop Faster, Lead Stronger, Build Better
Leadership development opportunities are abundant. Trusted relationships with people who understand the pressures and unique challenges of municipal leadership are much harder to find.
The MLDC brings municipal leaders together for fresh ideas, meaningful conversations, and trusted relationships with peers who understand the work.
After two years of operation and hundreds of conversations with municipal leaders across North America, the MLDC continues to evolve around what leaders consistently say they need most:
• Trusted relationships with peers who understand their role.
• Meaningful conversations about the challenges they’re actually facing.
• Opportunities to learn from municipal leaders doing exceptional work.
The MLDC creates a space for those relationships and conversations to happen, because the goal isn’t simply to consume more leadership content.
It’s to become a better leader alongside people who understand the work.
Whether you’re looking for fresh ideas and practical leadership development or a small circle of peers who will walk alongside you throughout the year, there’s a place for you in the MLDC.
Practical leadership development. Fresh ideas. A broader community.
MLDC Membership connects you to fresh ideas, practical leadership insights, and municipal leaders doing work worth learning from across North America.
INCLUDES
Weekly Leadership Brief
Insights gleaned from Seth Winterhalter’s travels, conversations, and podcast interviews with municipal leaders across North America, distilled into practical ideas for your own leadership.
Two Virtual Leadership Labs
Interactive half-day learning experiences featuring municipal leaders and select guests with ideas, approaches, and results worth exploring.
MLDC Exclusives
Extended conversations with podcast guests, exclusive interviews with municipal leaders, and timely discussions that go deeper into relevant leadership challenges, innovative ideas, and what’s working in communities across North America.
ICMA-CM Professional Development Documentation
Prepared documentation for applicable MLDC programming to make tracking your professional development easier.
Best for: Leaders who want fresh ideas, practical leadership development, and connection to a broader community of municipal leaders.
Join now for 2027 and receive access to the MLDC for the remainder of 2026 at no additional cost.
Don’t just learn alongside other leaders. Know them.
Everything in MLDC Membership, plus a hand-selected, role-specific cohort of municipal leaders who understand the weight, know your challenges, and walk alongside you throughout the year.
INCLUDES
A hand-selected cohort of 8–10 peers organized by role:
City & County Managers/Administrators
Assistant/Deputy Managers & Administrators
Department Heads & Directors
Ten facilitated 90-minute virtual Mastermind sessions with the same cohort throughout the year.
Every session combines:
30 Minutes | LIFE
A confidential check-in on what members are carrying personally and professionally.
60 Minutes | LEADERSHIP
Hot Seats, focused peer problem-solving, and cohort-selected conversations around the challenges members are actually facing.
Plus everything included in MLDC Membership.
Best for: Leaders who want a trusted group of peers who know their context, challenge their thinking, and help them navigate the challenges and opportunities of leadership.
Applications close October 31st.
In 2027, the Mastermind Intensive is reserved for City & County Managers/Administrators.
A hand-selected cohort of eight will begin the year together in person, continue meeting virtually throughout the year, and reconnect in person as the ICMA Annual Conference concludes in Philadelphia.
INCLUDES:
• Everything in MLDC Membership
• A hand-selected cohort limited to eight City & County Managers/Administrators.
• Three-Day Mastermind Intensive | Nashville
Begin the year together in person, building trust, establishing individual leadership priorities, and identifying the challenges and opportunities you’ll navigate together. [Two nights lodging and meals included.]
• Eight Virtual Mastermind Sessions
Continue the Life + Leadership format throughout the year with the same eight leaders.
• Mastermind Intensive | Philadelphia
Reconnect as the ICMA Annual Conference concludes to debrief, share insights and takeaways, and spend one final in-person experience together. [Lodging and meals included.]
Best for: Managers and administrators seeking deeper trust, stronger accountability, and a circle of peers committed to navigating the year together.
Only eight seats available. Applications close October 31st.
The most important conversations in leadership are rarely the ones someone scheduled a presentation about six months ago.
They’re the decisions sitting on your desk today.
The employee situation you’re trying to navigate.
The council relationship that’s keeping you awake.
The opportunity you’re not sure whether to pursue.
The personal weight of leadership that doesn’t disappear when you leave city hall.
That’s what the Mastermind is built for.
Members bring current challenges, decisions, and opportunities into the room. The cohort asks questions, challenges assumptions, shares relevant experiences and perspectives, and helps each leader determine their own best path forward.
This isn’t about having someone tell you what to do.
It’s about having the right people around you while you figure it out.
If you’re an ICMA Credentialed Manager, you already know that professional development isn’t difficult to find.
Documenting it can be.
For applicable MLDC programming, Credentialed Managers receive clear documentation identifying the activity, professional development hours, format, relevant ICMA Practices for Effective Local Government Leadership, and learning context.
We prepare the documentation. You add your personal learning reflection.
No digging through old agendas.
No reconstructing session descriptions months later.
No trying to determine which ICMA Practices apply.
It’s one more way we’re making MLDC participation practically useful for municipal leaders.
Complete the short Mastermind application and tell us about your role, what you’re navigating in 2027, and what you hope to gain and contribute to a cohort.
Applications close October 31st.
During the first two weeks of November, Seth will personally review applications and intentionally assemble each cohort.
Selected applicants will receive an invitation identifying their Mastermind placement.
You’ll have five days to accept your invitation and complete enrollment. If a seat isn’t accepted, it will be offered to another applicant.
Once cohorts are finalized, you’ll receive your 2027 schedule, onboarding information, and everything you need to begin the year together.
Our goal is to have all 2027 Mastermind cohorts finalized before Thanksgiving.
No. MLDC is open to municipal leaders regardless of ICMA membership or credentialing status.
No. MLDC Membership is open enrollment. Applications are only required for the Mastermind and Mastermind Intensive.
Cohorts are intentionally assembled based on role, fit, perspective, experience, and the potential to create a strong group. They are not filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Consistent participation is essential to building trust within the cohort. Members may miss up to two scheduled Mastermind sessions during the year. Missing more than two may result in removal from the cohort without refund.
Yes. Candid conversation requires trust. Members are expected to maintain the confidentiality of conversations within their cohort.
The $3,500 annual investment includes everything in MLDC Membership, the eight-person Intensive cohort, eight virtual Mastermind sessions, the Nashville in-person experience, the Philadelphia in-person experience, lodging associated with both Intensives, and meals during the in-person experiences.
Participants are responsible for transportation to and from Nashville and Philadelphia.
Applications close October 31st. Cohorts will be assembled during the first two weeks of November, with invitations following shortly thereafter.
Yes. Organizations will be able to pay by invoice/check or credit card. Payment instructions will be provided during enrollment.
Leadership doesn’t become less complicated as your responsibility grows.
But you don’t have to navigate it alone.
Build relationships with municipal leaders who understand your role, challenge your thinking, celebrate your wins, and are there when the decisions get difficult.
Deeper Relationships. Better Conversations. Stronger Leaders.
Mastermind applications close October 31st.
