Construction Genius | Construction Leadership

Every construction business has chased an opportunity that looked great and turned into a money pit. Herb Sargent calls it the Trojan horse.
Herb is board chair of Sargent Corporation, a heavy civil contractor in Maine that turned 100 this year. Scott Peper is CEO and founder of Mobilization Funding. They wrote Field Tested: Lessons in Leading, Losing, and Winning in Construction together, and they walked me through how to spot the horse before you wheel it in.
Takeaways:
Set the number where you'll walk away before you start. Sargent lost money in ready mix every year for ten years.

Let your estimator tell you what the job costs before ego decides you have to have it.

"I gotta keep money coming in" usually means overbillings went to start other jobs.

Every growing owner becomes the bottleneck. Hand someone the keys for half a day, then debrief.

One 15-minute conversation about legacy got Sargent's best operator mentoring a 23-year-old foreman.

Connect with Herb Sargent:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herb-sargent-esop/
Sargent Corporation: https://sargent.us/
Starbuck and Sargent podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/starbuck-sargent/id1856531285
Connect with Scott Peper:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-peper-9387288/
Mobilization Funding: https://mobilizationfunding.com/
The Mobilization Mindset podcast: https://mobilizationfunding.com/videos/
Pre-order Field Tested on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Field-Tested-Lessons-Leading-Construction/dp/B0HM2TXYS3
The Shift Leadership Course: https://theshift.constructiongenius.com/

Capable people can spend an hour in a meeting and leave without a decision. Effective leadership in construction requires a better meeting structure.
In this solo episode, Eric Anderton shares the process he's used with contractors for over 20 years to help teams reach agreement in about 30 minutes, even on problems they've debated for years.
Key takeaways:
Frame a precise question with a 90-day deadline.
Have everyone write ideas independently. The owner shares last.
Vote for the best third of the ideas without stacking votes.
Confirm commitment and address objections.
Create a one-page action plan with clear priorities and numbers.
Free resources:
Meeting Assessment: https://ericanderton.activehosted.com/f/256
Kick-Ass Meetings eBook: https://www.constructiongenius.com/kam-2
Special Offer: The first 10 contractors who email eric@constructiongenius.com with "Kick-Ass Meetings" in the subject line receive a free 60-minute Zoom problem-solving session with Eric and their team. Normally $3,500. Include your problem and where you heard the offer. Expires 12/31/26.
Connect: https://constructiongenius.com

Construction Business Development: How to Hire Salespeople Who Win Large Projects
Construction business development suffers when you hire someone for their industry contacts or interview skills, then wait a year to find out they can't sell.
How do you assess a business developer before making an offer? How do you know if weak sales come from the person you hired or the process you gave them?
Neal Glatt joins Eric Anderton on Construction Genius to discuss construction company business development, hiring salespeople, and building a repeatable sales process for large commercial projects.
You'll learn what to test before hiring a construction business developer and how to judge their progress within six months.
In this episode:
Hiring construction salespeople: Why industry experience alone is a poor hiring criterion, and what Neal assesses across more than 220 data points.
Building a construction sales process: How to turn your best past sales into a one-page process with clear stages and steps.
Pursuing commercial construction projects: Why you need to reach prospective clients six months to a year before the RFP goes out.
Finding decision makers: What to ask to uncover everyone involved in selecting a contractor.
Assessing sales candidates: What a five-minute phone screen can suggest about a candidate's willingness to pursue an opportunity.
Managing business developers: How to set expectations and assess whether a new hire is likely to succeed.
Listen before you hire your next business developer or give your current salesperson another year without clear expectations.
Connect with Neal Glatt:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealglatt
Website: https://nealglatt.com
The Shift Leadership Course: https://theshift.constructiongenius.com

You pay the Christmas bonuses. Then January hits, more job costs come in, and the profit you paid them on starts to shrink.
In part nine of the construction accounting series, Kathe Barrington, CPA, of KB CPA walks through a contractor's year-end close. She covers how to test your numbers before you spend, distribute or pay bonuses on them.
 
Takeaways:
Year-end prep starts in January. A hard close tells you which SOPs need work

Check December's closed jobs against January's job costs. Costs still landing means you closed too early

Take job losses as soon as you know them. Be conservative on pending change orders

Internal financials that don't match your reviewed statement cost you credibility with your bank and surety

Get Q3 right, pick the jobs you'll close by December 31, and get the numbers to your tax person in October

 
Kathe also tells the story of a job that took 11 years to close out.
 
The full Construction Accounting Series with Kathe Barrington:
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNqgaQ0mEF1w
Ep. 357 WIP Reports Made Simple: https://www.constructiongenius.com/wip-reports-made-simple-the-key-to-stopping-hidden-job-losses-ep.-357

Ep. 359 Use Your WIP to Protect Cash: https://www.constructiongenius.com/how-to-use-your-wip-to-protect-cash-and-grow-profitability-ep.-359

Ep. 364 Physical Progress vs. Financial Reporting: https://www.constructiongenius.com/physical-progress-vs.-financial-reporting-in-construction-projects-ep.-364

Ep. 368 Underbillings Bad. Overbillings Better: https://www.constructiongenius.com/underbillings-bad-overbillings-better-the-cash-flow-truth-construction-owners-cant-ignore-ep.-368

Ep. 377 Why Your Jobs Look More Profitable Than They Are: https://www.constructiongenius.com/why-your-jobs-look-more-profitable-than-they-are-indirect-allocations-and-overhead-in-construction-ep.-377

Ep. 388 Read Your Backlog Like a Banker: https://www.constructiongenius.com/how-to-read-your-backlog-like-a-banker

Ep. 396 Grow Bonding Capacity: https://constructiongenius.com/grow-bonding-capacity-banking-tax-moves-contractors/

Ep. 400 Projections: https://www.constructiongenius.com/construction-projections-cash-flow-margin-kathe-barrington

Connect with Kathe Barrington:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathe-barrington-a6346337
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Kathe-Barrington-CPA-100072271041746
KB CPA: https://kbcpa.biz

Suffolk and MIT just released a white paper on AI in construction. It estimates 17 to 20% in potential cost savings and 22 to 25% on schedule. In this solo episode, Eric Anderton reads it for a contractor running a $25 to $500 million company and pulls out the applications worth testing now. He also explains where those numbers came from before you expect them on your next job.
Takeaways:
Many field production problems get locked in during design, months before the crew shows up

Design changes hit quantities, purchasing and installation. AI could get those effects onto the schedule sooner

A contractor is using AI to turn hundreds of schedule activities into a three-week look-ahead with a risk list

Tie your procurement log and lead times to the schedule so a late delivery flags the work it puts at risk

None of it works without accurate project data and someone who owns the decision

Connect with Eric Anderton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andertoneric
 
Read the report: Construction in the Age of AI, from Suffolk and MIT
https://suffolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Suffolk_MIT_AI_Whitepaper_FINAL.pdf