Municipal Leadership is No Longer Optional. Issue 28.


The Leadership Catalyst

The Leadership Catalyst is where municipal culture and women’s leadership collide. Each issue delivers unapologetic insights on how staff culture shapes resident trust, how leaders set the tone for performance, and how accountability drives results inside city hall.

Dear Reader,

The Catalyst Perspective

The federal government has shut down.
But the real crisis isn’t in Washington; it’s in your inbox, your council chambers, and your staff break room.

Residents are showing up scared, not just frustrated.

ICE raids are happening in broad daylight.
Parents are too afraid to send their kids to school.
The most vulnerable are skipping food pantries out of fear.

And your staff?
They’re expected to lead through all of it without breaking, without burning out, and without losing public trust.

The Power Move: Strategy & Perspective

When pressure hits, your staff culture shows you exactly what it’s made of.

Some teams spiral. Others rise.
The difference? Intentional leadership strategy, not wishful thinking.

The Municipal Transformation Package™ was built for this exact moment.

When fear, burnout, and disconnection threaten your team’s ability to serve, you need more than a motivational speaker. You need a systemic intervention rooted in your reality.

This isn’t your typical training.
It’s a customized operational strategy designed to align your team culture with public trust, and strengthen how your staff show up under pressure.

And yes—it’s built on my SCALE™ Framework:

S – Strengths-Based Leadership: No more guessing. Know who’s built for what.

C – Confidence & Cognitive Reframing: Your team’s mindset is policy.

A – Aligned Values & Boundary Negotiation: Because over-functioning is not leadership.

L – Leadership Longevity: Keep your best people. Don’t burn them out.

E – Ecosystem Building: Align departments, power centers, and community voices to move policy, people, and resources with purpose; not chaos.

Performative politics won’t protect your staff.
And performative leadership won’t transform your culture.

If your team isn't equipped to lead through a crisis; you're not leading at all.

The Leadership Catalyst Spark

📝 Download: Crisis-Ready Culture™


3 Conversations Every Municipal Team Should Be Having Right Now


Your staff culture won’t stay neutral under pressure; it will either protect public trust or fracture it.

This SCALE™ aligned tool gives mayors, city managers, township supervisors, and department leaders a quick way to assess where your team is aligned and where silence or burnout is compromising your leadership.


Ally in Action: A Note for Men on This List

If you're a city manager, village administrator, township supervisor, or chief of staff; this is your moment.

Not to be the savior. But to resource the women you lead beside.

Investing in their leadership isn't a favor. It's infrastructure.

Here’s what real allyship looks like:

  • Don’t make her ask for leadership development — offer it.
  • Don’t leave her to carry staff accountability alone — share the weight.

Don’t talk about inclusive leadership — invest in it like it matters.

Take Action Today

Your team is carrying fear, tension, and trauma on their shoulders.
You can’t wait for this moment to pass; you have to shape it.

Book your Municipal Transformation Package™ today. This is a customized, high-impact intervention that includes:

  • A confidential staff assessment grounded in your real-world team dynamics
  • Customized training focused on leadership, communication, and operational excellence
  • Curated resources for ongoing professional and personal growth
  • An Integration Day for real-time strategy, executive coaching, and team accountability
  • An Executive Report outlining key insights, risks, and strategic recommendations to strengthen your team culture and operational alignment

If you want public trust, staff cohesion, and a leadership team that can weather the storm, this is the move.

Support This Work

In November, The Leadership Catalyst will roll out a premium tier.

More tools.

Deeper insights.

And unapologetic strategy for those who are ready to lead the change, not just talk about it.

As we grow, you’ll also notice a shift:
The newsletter will focus more intentionally on municipal team culture, community-building, leadership alignment, and operational strategy….reflecting my signature work with mayors, village managers, city staff, and community stakeholders across the country.

My voice won’t change.
But the mission is evolving from inspiring individual women to equipping the teams they lead and the communities they serve.

You’ll hear more soon.

For now, stay with us. Share this issue. And bring someone with you.

Help Grow the Movement

💬 Forward this email.
📣 Repost the teaser on LinkedIn.
🔗 Tag a leader who’s carrying too much without enough backup.

Because leadership without support isn’t noble; it’s negligent.

Final Words

Your municipality has a tagline. A brand. A promise to the people.
But if your staff culture doesn’t reflect it; then it’s just words on a website.

Residents don’t experience your mission statement.
They experience your front desk. Your police. Your permit staff. Your outreach team.

It’s time to align your internal culture with the public trust you claim to protect.
That’s the transformation.

And it starts now………..with leadership that sets the standard.


In partnership and purpose,

Chasity Wells-Armstrong
Founder, Catalyst Coaching & Transformation


Former Mayor | Former Village Manager | City Council Member | Congressional Staffer

Leadership Strategist to Women in Government Leadership and Their Visionary Teams.

2 Plaza Drive, PO Box 5555, Woodridge, IL 60517
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Catalyst Coaching & Transformation

The Leadership Catalyst is where municipal power and women’s leadership collide. I expose how staff culture builds or breaks public trust, and why women leaders must set the standard for their teams and their communities. This is unapologetic strategy, rooted in SCALE™, for leaders who refuse to carry the weight of broken systems alone. Subscribe and join a community that’s rewriting the rules of government leadership.

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