What Keeps Purpose Alive in Public Service
If you read last week’s piece—the first Deep Dive of 2026—you know we kicked off the year with something simple but not easy: strategic planning for yourself.
This week, we turn the page to the second half of the story.
If Marnie Schubert and Miriam Dickler focused on building a personal foundation that keeps you grounded, Kara Roberson is here to talk about keeping the flame lit once the work begins.
And in a year when so many people told her, “Everything just feels heavy right now,” she decided to take the conversation national.
Before we get into it, take a look at this.
The Artist’s Capture: A Map of How Purpose Looks in Real Life
Credit: JulieGieseke.com
At the 2025 ICMA Conference, Kara’s breakout session was documented live by an artist. The panel included Kristi Northcutt, Director of the Public Management Center at the University of Kansas, David Wilwerding, Assistant City Administrator, Johnston, IA, Caitlan Biggs, Assistant Town Manager, Little Elm, TX, with moderation from the amazing Karen Pinkos, City Manager, El Cerrito, CA.
The board is part mind-map, part mural, and part emotional cartography.
A few phrases jump off the page:
The weight is real
Remember your why
Find your community
Culture is everything
If last week’s piece was about reconnecting with yourself, this artwork captures Kara’s core lesson:
Purpose can be sustained—but only if we build the conditions for it.
‘It’s Just Heavy This Year’
Kara, strategic communications officer for the City of Wentzville, MO, told me early in our conversation:
“My mentees, my staff, my network … everyone kept saying the same thing—it’s just heavy this year.”
Some years simply demand more. Online discourse grows more toxic. National politics seep downward. And given events in Minneapolis in the first two weeks of this year, the pressure isn’t easing anytime soon.
And local government—the closest government to the people—absorbs all of it.
That’s why Kara pitched this topic to ICMA. Not because people needed help finding passion. Public servants generally have that in abundance.
The hard part is keeping it.
Reconnecting With Your Why
When I asked what reconnecting with her purpose looks like in a normal week—not on a slide, but in real life—Kara didn’t hesitate.
“I point everything back to purpose. Every project, every message, every conversation. Are we helping residents understand what’s happening and why? That lens keeps us grounded.”
She shared a story from her city’s new Academy of Civic Engagement, where residents had repeated aha moments:
“I had no idea the city provided that!”
“Oh—now I understand why you handle this the way you do.”
“I wish I could bottle up those lightbulb moments,” Kara said. “Because they’re the reminders you need when everything else feels loud.”
Stress Management as a Leadership Skill
This is one of my favorite parts of Kara’s philosophy:
Stress management isn’t personal wellness. It’s leadership.
Her turning point came years ago during a New Year’s Eve blow-up online:
“It was a holiday. This person was furious at me by name. And I realized, ‘I don’t owe him anything.’ I had enabled that expectation because I always responded immediately.”
That’s when she did something small that changed everything: she turned off notifications.
We enable a culture of constant availability because responsiveness works. It’s good customer service and effective issue management—but over time, it trains residents to expect access at all hours.
Kara’s antidote?
Focus time. Boundaries. Space to be proactive instead of reactive.
She now blocks time, protects it, and teaches her team to do the same. Her city even instituted Focus Weeks—stretches with fewer meetings so staff can recharge and look ahead.
It’s not indulgence.
It’s strategy.
Leadership Evolves—If You Let It
Kara’s growth mirrors what many of us learn the hard way.
Early-career Kara believed leadership meant carrying everything.
Now? It’s about supporting her team and providing them support, “even room to fail a little.”
And the perfectionism she once held onto?
“Letting go happened when I realized I didn’t have to control everything. It humanizes us to be imperfect. We’re all still heading toward the same purpose.”
That line stuck with me.
Last week, Miriam said something similar: “Being perfect isn’t sustainable. Being human is.”
Culture Is Everything
Kara doesn’t talk about culture abstractly. She builds it.
Her city has:
A Culture Gurus team
An internal employee development conference (the City of Buda, Texas, does something similar.)
Flexible approaches to work-life balance, especially post-COVID
Leadership that understands fun is not fluffy—it’s retention
As she put it:
“Work should be fun. And flexibility is something people are craving. Culture is how you keep them.”
If the first article was about strengthening yourself, this one is about strengthening the environment around you.
Keeping Talent: What Pulls People Out vs. What Keeps Them In
Kara sees the same pattern all of us see across local government:
What pushes people out
Burnout
Absorbing criticism as a personal attack
Feeling stuck in “we’ve always done it this way”
Lack of innovation or growth
A culture where failure isn’t safe
What keeps them in
Purpose that “clicks”
Seeing real community impact
Feeling part of a team
Supportive supervisors
Psychological safety
Long-term relationships
Professional development
Mentorship
She put it this way:
“Once public service clicks, it trumps everything else—the money, the vacation days. It just becomes who you are.”
That’s the magic of local government.
And the challenge.
Finding Your People (And Why It Might Save Your Career)
This was the part of the interview where Kara got emotional.
“I would not be where I am today without 3CMA. No way.”
She named people who shaped her career (some of these same people shaped mine too):
Her mentee, Yeimi Darvill, now a communications director
Her Missouri regional comms group
And she told me something quietly powerful:
“Mentors gave me confidence. But they also showed me the pathway—and that I could be a leader too.”
We underestimate how lonely public service can be. And how essential relationships are to staying grounded.
This article—and the last one—make that point in different ways.
Innovation, Red Tape, and Getting Over “We’ve Always Done It This Way”
Kara has no problem naming her pet peeve:
“We create our own red tape … We don’t change things because it’s harder for us, even if it’s better for the resident.”
Innovation isn’t shiny tech. It’s doing what’s best for the people you serve—even if it means discomfort, risk, or process overhaul.
A Final Word on Passion: You Have to Tend the Flame
Before we wrapped up, I asked Kara what she hopes the next generation understands about purpose and wellbeing.
Her answer is one I’ll probably quote all year:
“Passion will always be there once you find it. But you have to recognize when it’s waning—and act on it.”
That’s the perfect landing for this two-part New Year series.
Last week we talked about planning your life with intention.
This week we talk about sustaining the purpose that brought you to local government in the first place.
Both matter.
Both take courage.
Both require community.
Onward and Upward.