Old-School Crews, Last Planner Mistakes, and Building Culture by Design with Boone White

Boone White grew up with a stutter. Public speaking was something he avoided until years of running weekly safety meetings forced him to figure it out. He got better by going shorter, ditching the scripts, and replacing bullet points with stories. Now he's a general superintendent at ICM Construction, a construction influencer, and one of the more honest voices in the trades about what it actually takes to shift a jobsite culture from the inside. In this episode, Jesse and Boone get into what it looks like to lead crews who've been doing this longer than you have, why systems matter more than blame, and how tools like Last Planner can either build a team or blow one up depending on how you roll them out. What you'll hear: How Boone turned a childhood stutter into a communication strength — and why story-driven toolbox talks land harder than scripted ones What it looks like to lead hardheaded, old-school crews without losing their respect or your standards The honest story of how he butchered Last Planner on his first try — and why Lean tools get weaponized against the culture they're supposed to build The workforce pressures forcing construction to get serious about how it treats people, whether it wants to or not Inside ICM's Align Academy and the Old Dog Community — and why experienced supers need a peer group as much as anyone Boone's push to change how Mississippi bids and delivers work Boone's a working super who figured things out the hard way. This one's worth the listen. 00:00 Facts and Introductions 02:15 Why Boone Speaks 02:39 Stutter to Confidence 04:29 Toolbox Talks That Stick 05:15 Stories Over Scripts 08:08 Leading Older Crews 09:31 Firm Leadership Balance 13:41 Old School vs New 16:54 Workforce Change Storm 19:11 Treat People Like People 22:26 Lean Books Breakthrough 26:25 Butchering Last Planner 27:21 Weaponized Collaboration 28:21 Identity Shift to Lead 31:51 Enemy Is Waste 32:37 ICM Culture by Design 35:16 Why Boone Joined ICM 38:52 Inside Align Academy 44:31 In Person Training Wins 46:40 Listening as a Skill 49:13 Old Dog Community 53:06 Promise for Mississippi 55:09 Where to Connect 55:49 Podcast Wrap Up Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be