This membership was built for city executives who want to reclaim their energy, voice, and direction. A private community where like-minded leaders in city management come together for group coaching and learning, so you can stop performing leadership and start enjoying it again.
Launching Fall/Winter 2025
Join A Membership for City Executives Navigating Leadership Fatigue
You know how to manage a city. What you need now is space to figure out how to be a whole person within the context of your position, with others who actually get what that means.
Feeling isolated with no safe space to process what's actually happening
Pressure from every direction - home, council, staff, community
The role that once energized you now drains you
Burnout that weekends and vacations can't touch
Professional and personal relationships taking hits
That persistent thought: "I don't even know what I want anymore"
Sound familiar?
Externally, you're crushing it. Council meetings, staff management, budget oversight, community delivery. You've got the credentials, the title, the respect.
Internally? You're depleted. Reactive instead of strategic. Disconnected from the passion that brought you here in the first place.
You're Running on Empty and Calling It Leadership
Most professional development assumes you have time you don't actually have. The City Executive Circle was designed around the reality of your calendar and the unpredictability of city management.
Monthly group sessions when you can make them (recorded when you can’t), quarterly focus areas that pertain to the work you are actually doing right now, and a community that gets it when the fire chief walks into your office mid-call or the Mayor texts you.
The Circle combines group coaching with peer connections and real-time support for the decisions that keep you up at 2 AM. Instead of adding more to your plate with worksheets and homework, it's focused on honest conversations with people who understand what it means to manage a $50 million budget while trying to keep everyone happy, including your family.
Think of it as having a kitchen cabinet of advisors who've all sat in similar chairs. You don't have to explain why the budget process is stressful or why council dynamics matter. They already know.
A Monthly Membership That Actually Fits Your Schedule
The City Executive Circle
Connect by geographic location, city size, or shared challenges. Build relationships that actually matter.
Private Networking Space
Tools and frameworks designed for public sector leadership, not generic corporate advice that misses the mark.
Member-Only Resource Library
Bring your current challenge. Get coached in real time while the group learns alongside you.
Optional Hot-Seat Coaching
Process what you can't share with staff or council. Get feedback and perspective from people who've been there.
Peer Support Circles
Deep-dive sessions where as a group you apply learnings to real challenges in identity, decisions, relationships, and energy.
Quarterly Focus Masterminds
Live learning focused on the frameworks and approaches that shift how you show up at work and in life.
Monthly Live Sessions (30 minutes)
This is where you get to stop figuring everything out by yourself. A place to process decisions with people who understand the stakes, build clarity on what you actually want, and reconnect with the leader you came here to be.
Built around your reality, not around more things to do
Inside the Circle
Be intentional about what you actually want to leave behind.
Legacy Work
When you're questioning if this is still worth it or not.
Career Crossroads
What to do when everything's on fire and everyone's looking at you for the solution.
Leadership in Crisis
End the 2 AM second-guessing sessions.
Decision-Making Confidence
When politics feel more important than progress.
Difficult Council or Staff Dynamics
How to protect your bandwidth without becoming ineffective.
Energy & Capacity
Stop trying to balance everything. Start integrating who you are with what you do.
Work-Life Integration
Who are you when you're not performing leadership?
Role & Identity Clarity
Every city executive faces different challenges, but certain themes come up again and again when you finally have people who understand what you're dealing with. We talk about whatever's on your mind, but these are the common topics that tend to surface:
Common Themes We Explore
Build leadership that doesn't require you to sacrifice yourself
4: Sustain
Stop choosing between being effective and being human
3: Integrate
Get clear on who you are when no one's watching
2: Recommit
Notice when you're running on fumes and calling it leadership
1: Awaken
We follow The Leadership Integration Framework™, one I developed specifically for city executives who are ready to stop surviving their roles and start actually leading again. This isn’t a linear path. Each phase supports and strengthens the others, and together they form a continuous cycle of transformation you’ll revisit throughout the year.
How We Move Through the Year Together
I spent over 15 years in city management across Texas and Washington, holding assistant city manager and interim leadership roles across departments. I've sat where you're sitting, made the decisions you're making, and felt the weight of holding everything together while wondering if anyone actually understands what it costs.
When burnout hit me, it wasn't about better time management or delegation skills. It was about remembering who I was underneath all the expectations. I had to stop performing leadership and start integrating who I am with how I lead.
Now I help other city executives navigate that same shift. The City Executive Circle is the space I wish I'd had. Real conversations with people who get it, without having to explain why the budget process is stressful or why council dynamics matter.
City Executive Coach | Certified Life Coach | MPA | CPM
Hi, I’m Kellye.
You've already built the credibility. You've earned the title. You've demonstrated you can handle the pressure. What you need now is space to figure out what you actually want and how to get there without losing yourself in the process.
The City Executive Circle launches Fall/Winter 2025 for city executives who are ready to stop carrying everything alone. A community of peers who understand the weight of your decisions and the cost of constant performance.