This episode brings a heartfelt and deeply practical conversation with Jason and guest Mark Story as they unpack what it really means for construction professionals to take care of themselves and their families while building demanding careers. Together, they explore how priorities shift over time, why planning personal life with the same rigor as project planning is essential, and how leaders can protect their health, relationships, and long-term sustainability.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why personal priorities evolve throughout a construction career and how to adjust your approach to work accordingly.
• How intentional planning, delegation, and load-sharing help professionals avoid burnout and create space for family life.
• Why owning your calendar is essential for protecting health, relationships, and long-term performance.
• How visual scheduling, time-blocking, and early planning create clarity and reduce stress for you and your household.
• Why taking care of yourself outside of work ultimately strengthens your leadership inside of work.

If you planned your personal life with the same discipline you bring to your projects, how different would your year and your relationships look by this time next season?

If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊).

Also, here are links to our YouTube Channels:

· Jason Schroeder YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xpRYvrW5Op5Ckxs4vDGDg

· LeanTakt YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/leanTakt

· LeanSuper YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQDevqQP19L4LePuqma3Fg/featured

· LeanSurvey YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Ztn3okFhyB_3p5nmMKnsw

This episode explores a powerful but often overlooked truth in construction: your performance is only as strong as the partners and suppliers who support you. Jason shares insights from Toyota and examples from modern construction teams to show how great companies don't just demand excellence from their vendors, they help create it. By training, supporting, and collaborating with partners, leaders build a unified system where everyone wins together. If you want a healthier, more reliable, and more predictable project environment, this episode will reshape how you view your supply chain relationships.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why the most effective companies invest time developing their partners and suppliers, not just monitoring them.
• How Toyota's approach to vendor collaboration creates high reliability, consistent quality, and predictable delivery.
• Why construction leaders should train, support, and educate trade partners just as intentionally as their internal teams.
• How open-door collaboration builds unity and eliminates the "us versus them" mentality on projects.
• What it looks like when owners and GCs truly work shoulder to shoulder with trade partners to elevate performance.

If your success depends on your partners, what would change if you treated their growth and stability as a direct extension of your own?

If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊).

Also, here are links to our YouTube Channels:

· Jason Schroeder YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xpRYvrW5Op5Ckxs4vDGDg

· LeanTakt YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/leanTakt

· LeanSuper YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQDevqQP19L4LePuqma3Fg/featured

· LeanSurvey YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Ztn3okFhyB_3p5nmMKnsw

This episode dives into one of the most powerful but underused habits in the Last Planner System: properly marking up visual maps. Jason explains why simply pointing to where work will happen is not enough and how drawing access paths, staging areas, and crew space gives teams the full picture needed to identify conflicts early. Through real field examples, he shows how detailed visual planning uncovers logistical constraints long before they hit the jobsite and why mega projects succeed only when maps reflect reality, not assumptions. If you want to elevate your planning conversations and truly solve problems ahead of time, this episode will show you how.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why visual maps must show not only the work location but also access, staging, and crew space to reveal real constraints.
• How marking maps correctly strengthens the afternoon foreman huddle and improves roadblock removal.
• Why logistics becomes the next major constraint once flow and planning improve on large projects.
• How detailed spatial overlays help teams catch sequencing, access, and space conflicts before they happen.
• How stronger visual planning supports safer, smoother, and more predictable construction operations.

If your maps reflected the full truth of how work actually operates in the field, what new conflicts and opportunities would suddenly become visible?

If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊).

Also, here are links to our YouTube Channels:

· Jason Schroeder YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xpRYvrW5Op5Ckxs4vDGDg

· LeanTakt YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/leanTakt

· LeanSuper YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQDevqQP19L4LePuqma3Fg/featured

· LeanSurvey YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Ztn3okFhyB_3p5nmMKnsw