Game Changers for Government Contractors

What if your real customer is the prime and not the government? In this episode, I interview Rick Stengard from EBWATER, who took a business unit from zero to about $55 million a year in federal revenue and an exit to private equity. More than 90% of that revenue came as a subcontractor, and that was by design. Rick walks through the 18 months it took to win the first contract, why his company had 8(a) and SDVOSB status and built the business around the primes instead, and what debriefs and CPARS taught his team. He also coaches drivers at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta (yes, we talk about that too).

In this episode, I walk through the four rules I give every client before we start working together. Be a good communicator. Follow through. Have high integrity. Stay solution focused. My clients have won more than $14.6 billion in government contracts, and these rules are how we work together to get there.

These rules start with me! I hold myself to them first (and you can steal them for your own team and clients).

After more than 400 episodes of asking the questions, Michael LeJeune takes the other seat. In this episode of Game Changers for Government Contractors, the microphone turns toward the host for a conversation that puts his own experience and perspective in the spotlight. It’s a change of pace for longtime listeners and an introduction to the person behind the show for anyone tuning in for the first time.

Is the sky falling again for government contractors? SBA's proposed size standard changes could add 37,000 companies to the small business pool, and the panic is loud. In this episode, I give you my take as an SDVOSB who's watched this market survive CMMC, COVID, DOGE, and three administrations. I get into the question nobody's asking: how many of those 37,000 companies can qualify for a socio-economic status when those programs are controlled by ownership? And why would a $200 million company want to fight over a $4 million contract in the first place?

In this special episode, I interview Alex Buggy and John Wayne Walding, from the Best Defense Foundation. together they built the Stronghold program, where special operations veterans spend a week at 10,000 feet in Utah with doctors, NFL players, and operators who've already made the transition. It's peer-led, it costs the veteran nothing, and more than 100 have been through it.

In this episode, I get into vanity metrics, using a high school friend of mine who took home nothing out of a company doing $3 million with 40 employees. Before he hired me he asked two questions, how much revenue I make and how many employees I have. My numbers were smaller than his, so he passed. I also break down the numbers I would put in their place. Margin per product, per service and per job instead of one blended average, whether you are paying yourself and your people above market, and why you look at all of it weekly instead of once a quarter.

In this episode I break down the X factor of working with a women-owned small business, why they make outstanding teaming partners in government contracting, and the four things I find myself coaching them out of every time.

In this episode I get into what I call putting in the reps. It's the boring, repetitive stuff almost nobody does consistently, and it's what quietly decides who wins. I run through the reps that matter in your business, including the one almost everybody quits on way too early.

What do you do with the employee who was perfect for the company you used to run?

In this episode, I get into what I call the loyalty trap, the thing that catches a lot of owners between $5M and $10M. The business grew, the skill the job needs grew, and the person you hired on day one stayed right where they were. Most owners read that as an employee problem. It is usually a company problem.

I also walk through the sit-down conversation, the fork in the road, and the exit that keeps everyone's dignity intact.

What would you do with eight hours back this week?

In this episode, I interview Luke Thompson from The Operations Guide about the work he has been doing to implement AI in organizations. One of his favorite implementations is an AI agent that wakes up periodically, checks your systems, and then makes decisions and takes action based on your rules.He also talks about how this can all be managed (once it's setup) from your phone and a simple text.

If I printed 10 capability statements, yours and nine competitors', then cut off every logo, could you pick yours out of the stack? Most contractors say yes. Most contractors are wrong.

In this episode I break down why "we're different" is the most common claim in government contracting and the least believable one. Quality work, on time, under budget, great customer service. Those are not differentiators. That is the price of admission, and we have set the bar so low in this country that clearing it by an inch feels exceptional.

So I get into what actually separates you. How customer service turns into customer experience. Why the escape room I took Natasha to did more marketing in ten minutes than most capability statements do in a year. And how to build a named methodology of your own so buyers start asking for your process by name.

I also share the play that produced 20 to 25 million dollars in direct awards in my first two years in this business. No competition. No RFP fight.

Your challenge this week: find the stalest part of your delivery and make it memorable.

In this episode of Game Changers for Government Contractors, Michael LeJeune sits down with Dean Wegner, founder and CEO of Authentically American, to explore the leadership lessons, branding strategies, and entrepreneurial mindset behind building a fast-growing American-made apparel company.

Dean shares how his experiences at West Point, Ranger School, and leading soldiers shaped his approach to business, customer service, and team building. He also reveals the biggest mistake he made as a founder, why listening to customers transformed his company, and the three keys to earning national media coverage without a massive marketing budget. Whether you're building a GovCon company or any business, this conversation is packed with practical lessons on leadership, storytelling, branding, and creating an unforgettable customer experience.

In this episode, Michael LeJeune explains why businesses often stall between $1 million and $5 million in revenue, not because the opportunity disappears, but because the founder is still leading like it’s a startup. He breaks down the differences between leading in the military, corporate America, and a growing small business, and why those leadership styles don’t always translate. You’ll also learn how to identify whether your company has the right leaders, the right culture, and the right mindset to scale beyond its current ceiling.

If your company has stopped growing and you can’t quite figure out why, this episode may help you find the answer.

In this episode, Michael sits down with Ben Thompson from The Operations Guide to explore what AI looks like when it becomes part of your business instead of just another chatbot. They discuss building an AI productivity headquarters, connecting tools like Google Drive and Read.ai, using Claude Code and Codex to automate real work, and identifying the repetitive business problems AI can solve today.

If you’ve been frustrated with AI, overwhelmed by constant updates, or unsure where to begin, this conversation will completely change how you think about it. You’ll walk away with practical examples, a better framework for using AI, and a simple question every business owner should ask before investing in another tool: What work gets deleted if I use this?

Most government contractors are measuring the wrong things. They celebrate phone calls made, emails sent, and capability statements distributed, while completely ignoring the only metrics that actually predict contract wins.

In this episode, Michael breaks down why activity is one of the biggest lies in business development. He explains the difference between being busy and making progress, why meaningful conversations should be your primary KPI, how many Sources Sought and proposals you should realistically target each month, and the critical difference between P-Win and your actual win rate. If you’re tired of spinning your wheels and want a BD process that produces results instead of excuses, this episode gives you the framework to start measuring what actually matters.

CMMC is no longer a future problem. It’s becoming a requirement for contractors that want to compete for Department of Defense work. In this episode, Michael sits down with Ed Terensky of DTS to break down what contractors need to know about cybersecurity, compliance, and protecting sensitive government information. They discuss CUI, common misconceptions about CMMC, how to evaluate cybersecurity providers, and why many companies are creating bigger problems by looking for the cheapest path to compliance. If you’re a government contractor trying to prepare for the next phase of CMMC enforcement, this conversation provides practical guidance on how to secure your business and avoid costly mistakes.

Most business owners never actually become CEOs. They stay stuck in founder mode, doing sales, delivery, operations, customer service, problem solving, and putting out fires every single day. The business grows, but eventually the chaos grows faster than the company.

In this episode, Michael LeJeune breaks down the critical transition from founder to CEO and explains why this shift usually needs to happen around the 10 to 15 employee mark if you truly want to scale. He walks through the evolution from founder to Chief Growth Officer to CEO, how to think strategically instead of tactically, why operations leadership matters, and how to stop becoming the bottleneck inside your own company.

If your business feels heavy, chaotic, or overly dependent on you, this episode will probably hit hard.

Most government contractors are approaching business development completely backwards. They chase random opportunities, bid on contracts they have no business pursuing, overload their pipeline with garbage, and then wonder why growth feels impossible.

In this episode, Michael LeJeune sits down with GovCon BD strategist Brian Long to break down what actually creates momentum in government contracting. They unpack why knowing your niche matters, how to build a pipeline that isn’t a dumpster fire, why most companies enter opportunities way too late, and how to stop wasting time on contracts you’ll probably never win.

This conversation is packed with practical insights around capture strategy, qualifying opportunities, pipeline management, teaming, and the mindset required to succeed in business development.

If your pipeline feels chaotic, this episode is going to hit home.

Your employees are a mirror of your leadership. That’s the uncomfortable reality most business owners spend years trying to avoid.

In this episode, Michael sits down with Darryl Anderson, founder of Tr33 LLC, for a deep conversation about leadership, organizational culture, emotional intelligence, and the hidden “people problems” quietly damaging businesses from the inside out. They unpack why customer experience is usually a reflection of internal leadership standards, how tolerated behavior spreads through organizations, and why so many companies unknowingly create chaos while believing they have a culture problem, an operations problem, or a staffing problem.

This episode is packed with practical leadership insight, real-world business examples, and honest discussion around what actually causes organizations to grow, stagnate, or slowly unravel over time. If you lead people, build teams, or own a business, this conversation will probably hit closer to home than you expect.

Most government contractors aren’t losing because they lack effort. They’re losing because they’re doing the wrong work and calling it progress.

In this episode, Michael sits down with Rich Earnest to break down what actually drives success in government contracting. After 20+ years in the game, Rich pulls back the curtain on why most companies get stuck chasing bids while a small group consistently wins.

The difference comes down to one thing: systems.

They dive into the real role of pre-acquisition, why “busy work” is killing growth, and how relationship-driven strategy beats reactive bidding every time. Rich also shares lessons from his new book, including the mindset required to win, why execution matters more than endless research, and what most contractors forget the moment they enter GovCon.

If you’re tired of spinning your wheels and want a smarter way to win contracts, this episode will challenge how you’re playing the game.