The HaltingWinter Podcast

Kevin Mizikar: Are You Still Doing Instead of Leading?
The Shift Every Local Government Leader Must Make
Episode 385 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies

What happens when the skills that made you successful are no longer the skills your job requires?
For Kevin Mizikar, Town Manager of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, moving from technical roles into organizational leadership meant learning to stop being the person with all the answers and start creating the conditions for other people to succeed.
In this episode, Kevin and Seth explore the critical shift from doing to leading. They discuss why strategic plans should connect all the way down to individual employees, why developing future leaders requires intentional investment, and why professional development becomes more important, not less, as your responsibilities grow.
Kevin also shares lessons from his journey through federal, economic development, and municipal leadership roles, including the failures, mentors, and unexpected opportunities that shaped the leader he is today.
If you've ever been promoted because you were great at the work only to discover that leadership requires an entirely different set of skills, this conversation is for you.
About Kevin Mizikar
Kevin Mizikar is the Town Manager of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, where he has served since 2017. His career has taken him from financial analysis with the U.S. Department of Energy to economic development in New Jersey and municipal management in Massachusetts. Throughout his career, Kevin has remained committed to developing people, strengthening organizations, and investing in the relationships and professional development that help local government leaders grow.
This Episode is Sponsored by:
Tyler Technologies – the nation's leading provider of software and technology solutions built specifically for local government. From artificial intelligence and resident engagement to budgeting, planning, and public service delivery, Tyler helps communities operate more efficiently and serve residents more effectively. Learn more at https://tylertech.com/winter
The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) - The MLDC is a private leadership community designed exclusively for local government professionals. Through practical tools, meaningful conversations, and a nationwide network of peers, members gain the support and perspective needed to lead with greater confidence, clarity, and impact. https://haltingwinter.com/MLDC
Connect With Seth Winterhalter
Seth Winterhalter is a keynote speaker, storyteller, and President of HaltingWinter, a national media company dedicated to telling the stories of local government. Through The HaltingWinter Podcast and the nationwide HaltingWinter Tour, he highlights the people and communities shaping America from the ground up, celebrating public servants, strengthening the profession, and inspiring the next generation to pursue lives of purpose and impact through local government.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterhalter
Website: https://www.HaltingWinter.com

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week: Atlas of the Heart
Episode 384 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
This week, Seth Winterhalter looks at why local government leadership is an emotional profession that almost nobody trains for and how a lack of precise language for what you're feeling in the moment quietly costs leaders their ability to respond well. The conversation centers on Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown, a researcher who has spent nearly two decades studying vulnerability, shame, courage, and connection, and who maps 87 distinct emotions and experiences in this book.
The MLDC
Leadership in local government doesn't get easier as you move up. The decisions get harder. The expectations get higher. And the number of people you can openly process those challenges with gets smaller.
The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) gives local government leaders a place to keep growing alongside other professionals who understand the complexity of leading in local government.
Inside the MLDC, you'll sharpen how you think, strengthen how you lead, and turn leadership ideas into practical action through:
• Monthly Mastermind Sessions with municipal leaders from across North America
• Leadership Development built specifically around the realities of local government
• Practical Tools & Resources you can immediately apply with your team and organization
• Ongoing Learning designed to keep you growing throughout the year
You spend every day developing your organization, your employees, and your community.
The MLDC is an investment in developing you.
→ Explore the Municipal Leadership Development Circle: https://haltingwinter.com/mldc/
Connect With Seth Winterhalter
Seth Winterhalter is a keynote speaker and President of HaltingWinter, a national media company dedicated to telling the stories of local government. Through The HaltingWinter Podcast and the nationwide HaltingWinter Tour, he highlights the people and communities shaping America from the ground up, celebrating public servants, strengthening the profession, and inspiring the next generation to pursue lives of purpose and impact through local government.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterhalter
Website: https://www.HaltingWinter.com

David G. Brown II: Teach Me How This Works
Why Curiosity May Be a Leader's Greatest Advantage

Episode 383 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies

David G. Brown II has built a career in local government by being willing to walk into unfamiliar territory and ask a simple question: Teach me how this works.
In this episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Seth Winterhalter sits down with David, Township Manager for the Township of Ocean, New Jersey, to explore a career that has taken him through economic development, redevelopment, public works, municipal administration, major construction projects, and even the challenges of leading a beach community through COVID.
Along the way, David discovered that great leadership isn't about knowing everything. It's about staying curious enough to learn, driven enough to keep growing, and willing to apply what each new experience teaches you.
David and Seth also discuss why local government careers rarely follow a perfectly straight line. A role that looks like a detour may be adding exactly the skill you'll need later. David describes experiences that gave him capabilities he didn't even realize he had, including project management, and how each opportunity added something new to his leadership toolbox.
The conversation also gets into one of the harder realities of municipal leadership: you can do good work and still lose your job. Political environments change. Elected officials change. Sometimes your position changes with them. But how you conduct yourself through those difficult seasons matters. David knows that firsthand: the mayor who once fired him eventually became the mayor who hired him back.
About David G. Brown II
David G. Brown II serves as Township Manager for the Township of Ocean, New Jersey. His diverse career in public service has spanned municipal administration, economic development, redevelopment, public works, and major community development projects. From discovering public administration through the encouragement of a college professor to leading communities through political transitions, complex projects, and the COVID-19 pandemic, David has built his career by continually embracing new challenges, learning how things work, and adding each experience to his leadership toolbox.
This Episode is Sponsored by:
Tyler Technologies – the nation's leading provider of software and technology solutions built specifically for local government. From artificial intelligence and resident engagement to budgeting, planning, and public service delivery, Tyler helps communities operate more efficiently and serve residents more effectively. Learn more at https://tylertech.com/winter
The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) - The MLDC is a private leadership community designed exclusively for local government professionals. Through practical tools, meaningful conversations, and a nationwide network of peers, members gain the support and perspective needed to lead with greater confidence, clarity, and impact. https://haltingwinter.com/MLDC
Connect With Seth Winterhalter
Seth Winterhalter is a keynote speaker, storyteller, and President of HaltingWinter, a national media company dedicated to telling the stories of local government. Through The HaltingWinter Podcast and the nationwide HaltingWinter Tour, he highlights the people and communities shaping America from the ground up, celebrating public servants, strengthening the profession, and inspiring the next generation to pursue lives of purpose and impact through local government.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterhalter
Website: https://www.HaltingWinter.com

Randy Murphy: Leading Without Control
Why Influence Matters More Than Authority

Episode 382 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies

What does leadership look like when you realize you were never really in control to begin with?
In this episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Seth Winterhalter sits down with Randy Murphy, City Manager of Solvang, California, for a conversation about influence, resilience, culture, communication, and the lessons learned through a career that has taken almost every imaginable turn in local government.
Randy didn't grow up dreaming of becoming a city manager. In fact, he entered public service nearly by accident, taking a county position because it shortened his commute and gave him more time with his family. But once inside local government, he discovered work that gave him something his private-sector career hadn't: a deep sense of purpose.
Today, as City Manager of Solvang, Randy has helped rebuild an organization following years of leadership turnover, earning recognition from his own staff and peers with the John H. Nail Memorial Award for exceptional leadership.
Seth and Randy discuss why leaders can't overcommunicate difficult decisions, how delaying necessary action often makes the eventual pain worse, why serious work should still be fun, and how trust is rebuilt one relationship at a time.
They also explore one of Randy's most important realizations from both life and leadership: control is largely an illusion. Leaders cannot control every employee, elected official, resident, circumstance, or outcome. What they can control is how they respond and how effectively they influence what happens next.
About Randy Murphy
Randy Murphy is the City Manager of Solvang, California, and a longtime public servant whose career has spanned city and county administration, public works, parks and recreation, and executive leadership. Known for his people-first approach, Randy has helped rebuild trust and culture in Solvang while embracing a leadership philosophy centered on influence, resilience, communication, and finding joy in the work of public service.
This Episode is Sponsored by:
Tyler Technologies – the nation's leading provider of software and technology solutions built specifically for local government. From artificial intelligence and resident engagement to budgeting, planning, and public service delivery, Tyler helps communities operate more efficiently and serve residents more effectively. Learn more at https://tylertech.com/winter
The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) - The MLDC is a private leadership community designed exclusively for local government professionals. Through practical tools, meaningful conversations, and a nationwide network of peers, members gain the support and perspective needed to lead with greater confidence, clarity, and impact. https://haltingwinter.com/MLDC
Connect With Seth Winterhalter
Seth Winterhalter is a keynote speaker, storyteller, and President of HaltingWinter, a national media company dedicated to telling the stories of local government. Through The HaltingWinter Podcast and the nationwide HaltingWinter Tour, he highlights the people and communities shaping America from the ground up, celebrating public servants, strengthening the profession, and inspiring the next generation to pursue lives of purpose and impact through local government.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterhalter
Website: https://www.HaltingWinter.com

Show Notes: MLDC Book of the Week: The Road Back to You
Episode 381 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Seth introduces The Road Back to You by Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile, a practical primer on the Enneagram, a framework that maps nine distinct ways people are wired, including their core motivations, fears, and blind spots. Seth unpacks why this book lands differently for local government leaders than it does for a typical corporate audience: you don't get to build your team from scratch. You inherit a council or board, career staff, and residents you didn't choose, and you have to lead all of them well anyway.
The MLDC
Leadership in local government doesn't get easier as you move up. The decisions get harder. The expectations get higher. And the number of people you can openly process those challenges with gets smaller.
The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) gives local government leaders a place to keep growing alongside other professionals who understand the complexity of leading in local government.
Inside the MLDC, you'll sharpen how you think, strengthen how you lead, and turn leadership ideas into practical action through:
• Monthly Mastermind Sessions with municipal leaders from across North America
• Leadership Development built specifically around the realities of local government
• Practical Tools & Resources you can immediately apply with your team and organization
• Ongoing Learning designed to keep you growing throughout the year
You spend every day developing your organization, your employees, and your community.
The MLDC is an investment in developing you.
→ Explore the Municipal Leadership Development Circle: https://haltingwinter.com/mldc/
Connect With Seth Winterhalter
Seth Winterhalter is a keynote speaker and President of HaltingWinter, a national media company dedicated to telling the stories of local government. Through The HaltingWinter Podcast and the nationwide HaltingWinter Tour, he highlights the people and communities shaping America from the ground up, celebrating public servants, strengthening the profession, and inspiring the next generation to pursue lives of purpose and impact through local government.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterhalter
Website: https://www.HaltingWinter.com