Episodes

Leadership, Succession, and Building a Lasting Legacy with John Capelli What does it take to spend 36 years at one company and ultimately become its CEO? In this episode of Leadership Blueprints, BJ Kraemer sits down with John Capelli, CEO of EwingCole, to discuss leadership succession, career growth, and the intentional culture that has allowed the firm to thrive for generations. John shares the remarkable history behind EwingCole's ownership model, how founder Alec Ewing built succession pla...

A lot of people are talking about how AI is changing the landscape of professional services, but there’s one really important consideration that often gets overlooked — cyber threats. As CEO of Ridgeback Network Defense Inc., today’s guest, Scott Fogarty, helps organisations defend against cyber attacks. We begin by unpacking the importance of being prepared for battle as a business leader with the understanding that cybersecurity is a real fight against other human beings who pose a threat to t...

SHOW NOTES: Most people think winning builds confidence. But this former Princeton National Champion says it's the other way around. For Lauren, the championship isn't the first thing she remembers when she reflects on how sports shaped her. It's the moments that taught her to believe in herself. Now, as a high school lacrosse coach and parent of three athletes, she's helping young people discover a different kind of victory—one that has nothing to do with the scoreboard and everything to do w...

Get Weekly Leadership Blueprints in your inbox: https://mailchi.mp/mcfaglobal/leadership-blueprints-newsletter The story of America is the story of getting punched in the face and choosing to come back stronger. That is not just history. That is leadership. As the country turns 250, BJ sits down with Army Colonel Steve Messenger to unpack what that actually demands of you. Steve teaches a class called Failing with the Stoics and has spent his career building leaders inside the military's deliber...

Get Weekly Leadership Blueprints in your inbox: https://mailchi.mp/mcfaglobal/leadership-blueprints-newsletter Most firms send their project managers to a bootcamp once a year, hand them a certificate, and call it development. Anthony Fasano says that's not even close. PMs are running your client relationships, your budgets, your teams. They are CEOs of their projects. If you are not building them like CEOs, you are capping your own growth. Anthony just released Beyond PM Training, and his ecos...

Get Weekly Leadership Blueprints in your inbox: https://mailchi.mp/mcfaglobal/leadership-blueprints-newsletter Most parents think they're doing right by their kid in youth sports. They show up. They invest. They mean well. But Jonathan Carone says two hidden emotions are quietly driving most of the bad sideline calls. Self love and self glory. Once you can name them, the whole thing changes. Jonathan runs Healthy Sports Parents and helps moms, dads, and coaches build the kind of relationship wi...

Most business owners can rattle off their revenue, their pipeline, and their biggest headaches. Almost none can answer this one. What is the business actually doing to serve you in your life? Krystn Macomber asks her clients that before anything else. She's a fractional Chief Growth Officer who helps small government contractors stop chasing every shiny opportunity and actually build a strategy. In this episode, Krystn and BJ get into the BD curse of always saying "maybe we can win this," why t...

Get Weekly Leadership Blueprints in your inbox: https://mailchi.mp/mcfaglobal/leadership-blueprints-newsletter Most leaders shut down ideas without realizing it. A "yeah but" in a meeting. A quick correction before someone finishes. The team quietly learns to stop bringing anything new. Will Dennis runs Unscripted Productions, an applied improv studio that trains Fortune 500s, hospitals, and schools on the fix. It comes back to two words. Yes, and. In this episode, Will and BJ unpack why "yes,...

Get Weekly Leadership Blueprints in your inbox: https://mailchi.mp/mcfaglobal/leadership-blueprints-newsletter Every leader has that one person on the team. The one showing up halfway. The one quietly setting the ceiling for everyone else. And most leaders tolerate it longer than they should. Matt Crespino refused to. After taking over the Princeton men's swim team, he inherited what his assistant called an opt-in culture, where the committed thrived and the disengaged got to coast. Matt blew ...

Get Weekly Leadership Blueprints in your inbox: https://mailchi.mp/mcfaglobal/leadership-blueprints-newsletter Every Memorial Day, BJ replays this episode to reset how he thinks about what it means to lead. Dennis Zilinski was his West Point classmate, swim teammate, and one of his best friends. Dennis was killed in action on November 19, 2005, at 23 years old. In this conversation, BJ sits down with Dennis's mother, Marion Zilinski (Mama Z), to talk about who Dennis was, how he led, and how h...

Get Weekly Leadership Blueprints in your inbox: https://mailchi.mp/mcfaglobal/leadership-blueprints-newsletter 95% of women executives and 95% of Fortune 500 CEOs were athletes. Yet, most kids leave sports before they even get to high school. This episode breaks down why more kids are walking away and how parents and coaches can work together to change it. Katie Lee, founder of All American AIM, has placed girls at college programs including West Point by coaching the whole kid, not just the ...

During this episode, we are digging into the leadership challenges of transitioning from the military into the private sector and the lessons that had to be learned along the way. Chris Banks is a 20-year Navy veteran and the President of Banks Industrial Group, a company providing maintenance services in the industrial space. He joins us to share more about his search for impact after working in a process-driven environment, lessons he learned from good and bad leaders in the sector, and how h...

A good leader is aware of cybersecurity risks and tackles them intentionally! Today on Leadership Blueprints, we are joined by our very own information security practice leader, Bill Jones, to discuss all things cybersecurity. Tuning in, you’ll hear all about the very real cybersecurity threats that are out there, Bill’s career from the military to the FBI to MCFA, and more! We delve into what most leaders are blind to with regard to cybersecurity risks before touching on the importance of awa...

The difference between a stalled project and a successful ribbon-cutting ceremony lies in the project champion, a leader who possesses the courage, fortitude, and strategic mindset to navigate complex bureaucracies and transform ambitious plans into multigenerational realities. Today on the podcast, BJ is joined by MCFA’s Brian Pieplow and Michael Fuhrman to talk about the necessity of cultivating a project champion to manage upcoming billion-dollar infrastructure programs. They unpack the thre...

What does it take to turn an ambitious vision into a buildable, fundable reality? In this episode of Leadership Blueprints, host BJ Kraemer sits down with Brad Tubbs, president of Willis Construction Consulting, to discuss cost estimating, risk management, and the leadership role estimators play in complex construction projects. In their conversation, Brad explains why great estimators do far more than assign numbers to drawings, how estimators mentally build projects long before design is comp...

What does it take to build a championship football program that shapes not just great athletes but exceptional leaders? In this episode of Leadership Blueprints, host BJ Kraemer sits down with Frank DeLano, Head Football Coach at Haddonfield Memorial High School, to explore how to build a winning culture rooted in relationships, values, and community, and his leadership lessons from decades of success on and off the field. Frank explains the origins of his “we” philosophy, the mission statemen...

It’s easy to assume that growth comes from adding more, but it often actually requires doing less with greater intention. Today on the Leadership Blueprints Podcast, BJ sits down with Jeff Evenson, Scaling Strategist at Scaling.com, where he helps clients 10x their business in three years or less, which Jeff describes as the “impossible goal”. Tuning in, you’ll find out what it really means to grow a business strategically, including compressing timelines to sharpen decision-making, learning ho...

What happens when leaders step away from the noise of the day-to-day and create space to think? In this episode of Leadership Blueprints, BJ Kraemer breaks down the power of quarterly alignment and why operating in 90-day cycles can transform how leaders prioritize, execute, and lead their teams. As the quarter comes to a close, BJ shares how intentional reflection, clear prioritization, and disciplined focus help move organizations from reactive chaos to proactive clarity. He walks through th...

Most organizations invest heavily in logos, proposals, and marketing—but overlook their most powerful asset: their people. The truth is, your brand isn’t what you say it is - it’s what your people demonstrate every day. In this episode, BJ is joined by a special co-host, MCFA's Chief Project Development Officer, Brian Pieplow, to explore a foundational belief at MCFA: MCFA is ME. Together, they unpack what it means to build a people-first culture where every individual owns the brand and contri...

Most leaders believe the lie that “hustle” is the only path to success. But true success is actually an optimized daily experience sustained over time. When you neglect your physical, mental, and spiritual health, you become a reactive leader-swinging a dull axe and working harder for fewer results. In this episode, BJ explores the powerful intersection of servant leadership and personal sustainability. Through the classic leadership parable of the Two Lumberjacks and a personal story about how...

Time is the most precious resource leaders manage, and you can either drift with time or direct it. In a world where there is not a lot you can control, your time is something you can take ownership of. In David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, he teaches readers his methods for stress-free performance and emphasizes that your productivity is directly proportional to your ability to relax. A few years ago, BJ interviewed David about this topic, and today, we are playing that conversation for y...

Part of being a great leader is being self-aware and understanding the blind spots in your leadership approach. In this episode of Leadership Blueprints, we sit down with Jill Macauley to unpack the concept of blind spots through the lens of Martin Dubin’s book Blindspotting. Jill is the Chief Operating Officer at Behavioral Essentials and brings over 15 years of experience in business and non-profit consulting. Her work centers around helping leaders grow, plan strategically, and communicate w...

What hard conversation are you avoiding right now? In this solo episode of Leadership Blueprints, BJ reflects on Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and even the Winter Olympics to unpack one central leadership tension: compassion and accountability must coexist. Real leadership is not choosing between love and standards - it is holding both. Through presidential vignettes, youth sports culture, and lessons from business and family life, BJ introduces a practical three-part framework for develop...

What does it mean to create a safe space to fail? During this episode, we are going outside of the built environment to speak to a different kind of inspiring leader in his field. Paul Donovan is the CEO and Head Coach of Jersey Wahoos, a USA swimming club program located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. He is a champion of self-compassion and kindness. In this conversation, Paul shares how to balance compassion with accountability, navigate parental pressure, and prevent burnout in youth sports. H...