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The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

Todd Dawalt 200 Episodes Aug 17, 2026

This podcast is for construction business owners with annual revenues between $1 million and $20 million. It focuses on improving preconstruction processes and handoffs between office and field to reduce chaos and firefighting. The host provides practical systems to tighten precon, cut rework, and increase profitability. The goal is to help owners buy back their time, maximize profit from existing work, and scale their businesses without losing control.

Episodes

The Skywalk Collapse & The 5 Decision Questions Every Construction Leader Must Train Their Team On | Ep. 457
The Skywalk Collapse & The 5 Decision Questions Every Construction Leader Must Train Their Team On | Ep. 457 Aug 17, 2026 38:17 The 1981 Kansas City Hyatt skywalk collapse came down to one unchecked decision, and it holds a hard lesson for every construction business owner. In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge podcast, Todd Dawalt shares a decision-making framework of five questions and four tips to train your team to make better calls in the field and in pre-construction. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call w
How To Hold Employees Accountable: The Big 5 System | Ep. 456
How To Hold Employees Accountable: The Big 5 System | Ep. 456 Aug 10, 2026 32:52 Todd Dawalt breaks down how to hold employees accountable in your construction business using the Big 5 Accountability System. It's a simple, repeatable way to build ownership across your team without micromanaging or hovering all day. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: HERE 👉If you're constantly repeating yourself and correcting the same mistakes, this
How Builder CEOs Get Sh*t Done (Without More Willpower or Fixing Your ADHD Brain) | Ep. 455
How Builder CEOs Get Sh*t Done (Without More Willpower or Fixing Your ADHD Brain) | Ep. 455 Aug 3, 2026 47:44 If you stay busy all day but the work that actually grows your construction business keeps getting pushed to tomorrow, the problem probably isn't your willpower or your ADHD brain. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down the deep work system builder CEOs use to cut interruptions, protect their time, and get the important work done. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leadin
How Cody Scaled His Custom Home Business to Increase Profit and Win Back His Life | Ep. 454
How Cody Scaled His Custom Home Business to Increase Profit and Win Back His Life | Ep. 454 Jul 27, 2026 46:37 Custom home builder Cody Reimer went from a burned-out two-man crew to running a 12-person company that operates without him in the day-to-day. Todd Dawalt breaks down the construction business systems and the paid pre-construction process that moved Cody out of the field and into a real CEO role. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: HERE 👉When Cody Reimer
Why Waffle House Is More Systematized Than Your Construction Business | Ep. 453
Why Waffle House Is More Systematized Than Your Construction Business | Ep. 453 Jul 20, 2026 31:19 If you're a contractor working 60 to 80-hour weeks and still putting out fires, here's an uncomfortable truth: Waffle House is probably more systematized than your construction business. Todd Dawalt sat at the counter during a lunch rush and walked out with four systems lessons that show exactly where your company is bleeding time and profit. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construct
The 5-Step Hire Right System: How Construction Business Owners Can Hire Better with Justin Landry | Ep. 452
The 5-Step Hire Right System: How Construction Business Owners Can Hire Better with Justin Landry | Ep. 452 Jul 13, 2026 54:37 Hiring for your construction business shouldn't feel like an emergency every time you do it. In this episode, Todd Dawalt sits down with JL Talent Solutions founder Justin Landry to break down a five-step system for hiring better construction employees without leaning on gut feel. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: HERE 👉 Most construction owners only st
Crossing the Rubicon & the Desperate Ground Principle for Builders | Ep. 451
Crossing the Rubicon & the Desperate Ground Principle for Builders | Ep. 451 Jul 6, 2026 30:45 The year is half over. Are you halfway to your goals, or halfway to another year of almosts? In this episode, Todd DeWalt breaks down why so many construction business owners stay stuck overthinking the decision they already know they need to make, still camped on the wrong side of their own Rubicon, waiting on a little more research and a little more certainty before they move. ⚡Schedule a Busine
AI Is Lying, Customers Aren't: Radical Transparency and Culture-Building with Eric Fortenberry | Ep. 450
AI Is Lying, Customers Aren't: Radical Transparency and Culture-Building with Eric Fortenberry | Ep. 450 Jun 29, 2026 01:08:22 Why are you still stuck in the middle of everything, even with the best tools, a solid team, and steady projects coming in? In this episode, Todd DeWalt sits down with Eric Fortenberry, founder and CEO of JobTread, to dig into the real reasons contractors stay under-profitable and overworked, and what it takes to finally get off the hamster wheel. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Cons
The Hidden Design Shift That Unlocks Growth, Profit, and Free Time in Your Construction Business | Ep. 449
The Hidden Design Shift That Unlocks Growth, Profit, and Free Time in Your Construction Business | Ep. 449 Jun 22, 2026 25:17 Can you grow your construction business, pay yourself real profit, and still work a normal 40 to 50 hour week? Most construction business owners are working harder than ever and going backwards. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: HERE  👉 If you're grinding 60-hour weeks and every decision still runs through you, the problem isn't what you think. If you o
The One Question That Finally Gets Your Clients To Follow Your Process | Ep. 448
The One Question That Finally Gets Your Clients To Follow Your Process | Ep. 448 Jun 15, 2026 39:34 Got construction clients who miss selection deadlines, go around your communication process, then blame you when the schedule slips? In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge Podcast, Todd Dawalt shares the one question that gets your team to hold clients accountable to your process without sounding rigid. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: HERE 👉
Short-Staffed or Just Disorganized? 5 Tests Before You Hire | Ep. 447
Short-Staffed or Just Disorganized? 5 Tests Before You Hire | Ep. 447 Jun 8, 2026 41:13 Before you hire your next superintendent, project manager, or estimator, you need to know whether you have a capacity problem or a process problem. Todd Dawalt walks construction business owners through a five-step hiring framework to make smarter, more strategic staffing decisions. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team:  HERE  👉 If your PMs are stretched th
The 4 Questions to Ask Before You Try to Fix What's Not Working | Ep. 446
The 4 Questions to Ask Before You Try to Fix What's Not Working | Ep. 446 Jun 1, 2026 33:38 Something feels off in your construction business but you can't pinpoint it. Sales are slipping, the team's out of sync, or projects feel chaotic, and your instinct is to add more meetings, more software, more hours. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down why throwing action at the problem usually makes it worse, and walks through four diagnostic questions that help you find the real issue befor

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