Why Coaching Drives Leadership Results / Workshop Summary
Coaching: A Powerful Tool for Developing Better Leaders
How coaching helps local-government leaders build confidence, improve communication, and develop stronger teams.
An organization is only as good as its staff, and its staff is only as good as its leadership.
Local-government leaders face a familiar set of challenges: holding employees accountable, communicating effectively, managing conflict, and developing the next generation of supervisors and managers.
During a recent LeaderGov workshop, coaching specialist Gayle Johnson discussed how coaching can help leaders address these challenges and become more effective in their roles.
Before the workshop, participants were asked which leadership skills they hoped coaching could improve. Nearly 30% identified accountability and performance concerns, while another 25% selected communication and conflict. Participants also cited confidence in decision-making and executive presence as important concerns.
These results...
Local Government Leadership That Works
A department can have capable people, a balanced budget, and a clear mission yet still struggle to deliver. The problem is often not effort. It is how managers lead when priorities collide, conflict surfaces, workloads rise, and no one is certain who owns the next decision. Local government leadership development addresses that daily operating reality.
For city and county governments, leadership growth is not a perk for a few high-potential employees. It is an operational necessity. Managers set the standard for accountability, communication, follow-through, and problem-solving. When they lack the skills or support to lead people well, the cost shows up in stalled projects, turnover, resident frustration, missed handoffs, and senior leaders pulled into issues that should have been resolved closer to the work.
Why the Usual Approach Falls Short
Many agencies approach leadership development as an event: send supervisors to a one-day seminar, distribute a book, or add a session to a
...Five Ways to Get the Best from Your Seasonal Employees and Interns
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Leadership lessons from LeaderGov's national workshop for local government leaders
Whether it’s for elections, parks and recreation, or office assistants, local governments work with thousands of seasonal employees and interns. They become lifeguards, camp counselors, parks maintenance workers, election staff, public works assistants, office interns, and recreation leaders. While they may only serve for a few months, their impact on your organization—and your community—can be significant.
The question is:
How do you turn a temporary employee into a highly engaged team member?
Recently, LeaderGov hosted a national workshop featuring Justin Cutler, Senior Vice President of Consulting, to answer that question. Justin has spent more than twenty years serving local governments, including leadership roles in Atlanta, Portland, Seattle, and Westminster, Colorado.
Local government leaders from across the country joined the discussion, sharing practical ideas for developing seasonal emp...
AI in Local Government: Moving from Curiosity to Strategy
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a future concept for local government. It is quickly becoming a practical tool that can improve employee productivity, streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and create better experiences for citizens.
During LeaderGov's recent workshop on AI in Local Government, participants from cities, counties, utilities, regional agencies, and public organizations across the country came together to discuss where they are today with AI and where they believe the technology is headed next. While organizations are at different stages of adoption, one theme was consistent throughout the discussion:
AI is moving from experimentation to implementation.
Where Local Governments Are Today
A poll conducted during the workshop revealed that many agencies are still in the early stages of their AI journey. Some participants reported little or no organizational use of AI, while others are beginning to deploy AI tools for specific functions and pilot projects.
...From “Check-the-Box” to High Performance: Lessons from the City of Milton
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Most local governments know their appraisal process needs improvement. The challenge is figuring out what actually needs to change.
In LeaderGov’s recent workshop, we spoke with Ms. Stacey Inglis, Deputy City Manager for the City of Milton, Georgia, about how her team redesigned their performance management approach—and what others can learn from it.
The biggest issues aren’t what you might expect
During the session, participants identified their biggest challenges with appraisals. Two issues stood out clearly:
- 48.7% said their biggest problem is a lack of periodic coaching
- 25.6% pointed to poor integration of employee goals
Together, those two issues made up nearly three-quarters of all responses (74.3%).
That’s a powerful insight.
For many organizations, the problem isn’t just the appraisal form—it’s what happens (or doesn’t happen) throughout the year.
Why Milton decided to make a changeÂ
As Ms. Inglis described it, Milton’s old system had become a “check-the-box ex...
Dealing with Change in Local Government
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Leading Change in Local Government: Insights from Henrico County’s Terrell Hughes
Yesterday, LeaderGov welcomed city and county leaders from more than twenty states to our national workshop on Leading Change in Local Government. Our featured guest was Terrell Hughes, Director of Public Works for Henrico County, Virginia—a community widely respected for excellence in operations, employee engagement, and continuous improvement.
Co-founders Bill Stark and Lindsay Snyder interviewed Terrell about his real-world experiences leading organizational change, and he delivered a goldmine of practical wisdom for local government leaders. Below is a recap of the key themes he shared, expanded with context and lessons that apply to every city and county team.
1. Keep the Focus on the “Why” — Over and Over Again
Terrell stressed that effective change leadership begins with a relentless commitment to communicating the “why.”
In local government, employees often carry decades of experience with e...
Community Success Is Linked to City Council Effectiveness
 Published in the Missouri Municipal Review Magazine Spring 2025Â
by Bill Stark and Scot Wrighton
Published in the Missouri Municipal League Magazine
All city councilmembers want to be effective in their roles, but not all succeed. This article focuses on three high-level essentials elected officials should consider as they strive to successfully lead their communities.
LeaderGov has been privileged to work with hundreds of local governments around the country and we have observed how successful and unsuccessful cities tend to operate. We have also observed how council effectiveness is closely linked to community success.
1. Good Councils Think Long-Term and Set Clear Goals and Norms for the Organization
We have been surprised to see many communities operate year to year without written strategic plans for where they want to go and how they plan to get there.
With periodic turnover in elected and key appointed offices, it can be difficult to obtain and retain operational polic...
How Delegation Builds Strong Teams
Delegation: Building Skills, Trust, and Future Leaders
In this month’s LeaderGov podcast, Mr. Bill Stark, co-founder of LeaderGov, and Ms. Lindsay Snyder welcomed Mr. Matthew Lue, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Columbia, Missouri, (population 130,000) to discuss the vital leadership practice of delegation.
Mr. Lue shared how effective delegation not only frees a leader’s time but also develops staff, builds trust, and prepares the next generation of leaders.
Mr. Lue, who oversees a Finance department of approximately 80 employees in a city with over 1,600 – 2,000 employees, emphasized that his responsibility is to “leave the city in better hands” by equipping his team for future leadership. Delegation, he noted, instills pride in employees, gives them ownership of important work, and helps them grow professionally.
Key Insights from Mr. Lue:
- Know your team: Leaders should spend time observing and engaging with employees to understand both their strengths and areas for g ...
Improving Decision-Making in Local Government
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Improving Team Decision-Making in Local Government: Insights from Perla of Brownsville, Texas
Effective decision-making is crucial for any organization, and this is especially true in local government. In a recent episode of the LeaderGov Podcast, we had the privilege of hearing from Perla, the Director of Organizational Development and Human Resources for the City of Brownsville, Texas. With nearly a decade of experience in HR and organizational development, Perla shared valuable insights on how leaders can make better decisions that benefit their teams, organizations, and the communities they serve.
Learning from Mistakes: The Power of Reflection in Leadership
When asked about the toughest decision she’s made, Perla was open about the challenges she faced in the past. She recalled times when the pressure to fill vacant positions led her to make rushed hiring decisions. These quick decisions, made with the best of intentions to support her team, ultimately resulted in hiring...
Building a Culture of Ethics and Integrity in Local Government
Ethics and integrity aren’t just buzzwords in local government—they’re the foundation of public trust, team cohesion, and long-term success. When leaders prioritize ethical behavior, they create a culture where employees feel accountable, engaged, and proud of their work. But fostering this kind of culture doesn’t happen by accident—it requires intentional effort and strong leadership.
In a recent LeaderGov workshop, government leaders from across the country came together to explore practical strategies for promoting ethics and integrity in their organizations. Through insightful discussions and real-world examples, they uncovered key approaches to strengthening ethical standards within their teams.
Why Ethics Matter in Local Government
As William Whitson, a seasoned local government professional, put it, “working in local government is like "living in a fishbowl." Every decision, policy, and action is under public scrutiny. When integrity is compromised, the consequences ripple...
