The world changed. The patterns were sound. Built for conditions that no longer exist.

Leadership development for city managers, county administrators, and the teams they lead. Built for the conditions leaders face today.

Talk it through

Practitioners already hold much of the wisdom the work needs. Imagine That Performance creates the conditions to see clearly, name what matters, and act with precision.

Start with what the team is building.

Strong organizations use this work to stay adaptive as conditions change. The work begins in one of three places.

A leadership team that leads as one team.

Capable department heads, each strong in their own domain, decide together how they will lead as one. The Leadership Team Workshop gives the team the structure and the time to build that way of working and keep it.

See the workshop

Council and staff pulling in the same direction.

Elected officials and professional staff bring different views of what matters. Set the Direction builds the common ground before a planning process or a public decision asks everyone to act on it.

Explore Set the Direction

A room of peers for the person at the top.

Think Tanks put city managers and county administrators in a room with 8 to 12 peers who carry the same weight. Monthly. Confidential. Built for the questions that belong among peers.

Learn about Think Tanks

Today’s conditions call for different leadership practices.

Workforce expectations, political dynamics, and technology are three of the conditions changing how the work gets done, and they are not the only ones. The practices that built trust and steady execution were not wrong. They need to be reconsidered for the conditions leaders face now.

Read what changed

Workforce expectations moved.

People relate to work differently. Engagement, retention, and meaning now show up as operating questions, not side conversations.

Political dynamics intensified.

Council relationships, public scrutiny, and stakeholder expectations operate differently than they did five years ago.

Technology accelerated.

AI and automation are already reshaping roles, judgment, trust, and what leaders need their teams to understand.

The Shift That Sticks turns insight into a way of working.

Four practices help leaders see current conditions clearly, decide what matters, build the decision into everyday work, and reinforce it until the capability stays with the team.

Explore the methodology Read the book

Four practices

A practical sequence that can be used in workshops, peer advisory, coaching, and everyday leadership.

  • Face the TruthSee current conditions clearly.
  • Define What MattersChoose what should guide decisions now.
  • Make It RealBuild the decision into roles, rhythms, and systems.
  • Reinforce the ChangeKeep the practice alive in everyday work.

Put the situation on the table.

Rob Duncan, who founded Imagine That Performance, takes the first conversation himself. Thirty minutes on what is on the desk and what matters now. With or without us, we’re happy to point the way.