The breakthrough came shortly after 6:40 a.m. during what Holloway described as an “informal leadership retreat” held alone at a coffee shop before work.
“For a long time, I had several competing priorities,” Holloway said. “There was what the board wanted, what council wanted, what businesses wanted, what staff could actually accomplish, and what I personally thought made sense.”
“Those have now been consolidated into one person who is still somewhat concerned.”
Holloway said the alignment process began after he noticed that nearly every strategic planning meeting concluded with someone recommending greater focus, clearer priorities, stronger communication, and fewer meetings.
He decided to explore whether those principles could also be applied internally.
The process included a personal SWOT analysis, a review of his calendar, and an environmental scan of the 37 unread emails received before 8 a.m.
Strengths identified included persistence, institutional knowledge, and the ability to explain tax increment financing without visibly losing the audience.
Weaknesses included overcommitting, accepting meetings without agendas, and continuing to believe that “quick question” means quick question.
Opportunities included delegation.
Threats included everyone.
Holloway then developed a personal mission statement, which went through six drafts before being shortened to “Get the important things done.”
“That was a major moment,” he said. “The original version had three pillars, four strategic priorities, and a commitment to fostering sustainable, inclusive, future-ready economic vitality. At some point I realized I mostly needed to return two phone calls.”
The alignment effort also required Holloway to reconcile several long-standing internal disagreements.
One part of him wanted to launch a bold new business attraction campaign.
Another part wanted to finish the website.
A third wanted to stop spending money until the next fiscal year.
Following extensive discussion, all three agreed to update the website and call it Phase One.
Officials praised the development.
“This is exactly the kind of strategic clarity we’ve been asking for,” said Board Chair Susan Keller. “Although, to be clear, we will probably have some additional thoughts at next month’s retreat.”
Holloway said achieving alignment does not mean every internal issue has been resolved.
He remains divided on whether to attend a conference next month, pursue a grant requiring 80 hours of work for $12,000, and respond to an email marked “urgent” that has been sitting unanswered since Thursday.
Those items have been moved to a future work session.
For now, Holloway said he feels more focused.
“I know what our priorities are,” he said. “At least until somebody calls.”
