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.
Featuring Boone Bowling, Mayor of Middlesboro, KY
Episode 214 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
What do you do when you’re 22 years old, barely out of college, and have never been to a city council meeting but you love your town enough to fight for it?
If you’re Boone Bowling, you run for office.
Every week, municipal leaders across North America face the same frustrating reality: despite having compelling data, solid proposals, and genuine passion for community service, their most important messages fall flat.
Council members glaze over during budget presentations. Citizens disengage from critical infrastructure discussions. Staff meetings feel disconnected from the mission that brought everyone to public service in the first place. The harder you push facts and figures, the more resistance you encounter.
This isn’t a failure of logic. It’s a failure of connection.
Episode 212 of The HaltingWinter Podcast – Featuring Steve Dalton, City Administrator of Branson West, MO
Brought to you by Zencity
In 1990, Branson West, Missouri, had a population of 37. Today, it’s still technically a town of just over 500. But don’t let the numbers fool you—this place is built like a city ten times its size.
Episode 211 of The HaltingWinter Podcast – Featuring Mayor Kathy O’Nan of Mayfield, Kentucky
Brought to you by Zencity
On the night of December 10, 2021, an EF-4 tornado tore directly through the heart of Mayfield, Kentucky. Within minutes, the town’s historic downtown was flattened. Municipal buildings were reduced to rubble. Hundreds of homes were destroyed. And yet—amid the darkness, destruction, and overwhelming uncertainty—a leader showed up and stayed.
The federal grant you’ve relied on for three years just got eliminated. Your most experienced department head announced their retirement with two weeks’ notice. New state regulations completely changed how you deliver core services to your community.
Welcome to Summer 2025!
This week, we’re diving into Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese?” – a deceptively simple parable that offers profound insights for municipal leaders navigating the constant change that defines local government.
Episode 209 of The HaltingWinter Podcast – Featuring Laura Philpot, City Manager of Maple Valley, WA
Brought to you by Zencity
When Laura Philpot started her career, she wanted to build big things—bridges, stadiums, and infrastructure that would last for generations. But somewhere between a concrete canoe competition in college and a salmon stream restoration project in Maple Valley, Washington, her vision shifted.
Episode 208 of The HaltingWinter Podcast – Featuring Mayor Alan Keck of Somerset, Kentucky
Brought to you by Zencity
What if your city’s next big leap forward didn’t come from a strategic plan, but from listening—really listening—to the people who live there?
Every municipal leader knows the frustration: a simple community need that should take weeks to address somehow requires months of procedures, approvals, and departmental coordination. Good intentions have accumulated into bureaucratic barriers that prevent the very outcomes you’re trying to achieve.
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%.
