Foundations of Field Leadership Online: Registration Opening February 10th for Spring Courses!

Courses begin April 16, 2026

If you want to fast-track your new and aspiring field leaders, MCAA has just the program! Once a week for 8 weeks, FFL students spend 90 minutes online with an experienced field leader, who will walk them through best practices and practical strategies of running work and running a crew. From Planning to Leadership, from Documentation to Safety: our instructors break down the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of things that every foreman must understand to be successful.

Foundations of Field Leadership (FFL) is taught by senior field leaders with extensive experience running mechanical jobs. The program is based on the input of 42 mechanical field leaders from MCAA member companies across the country. The topics covered in this course were identified by these 42 experts as being the most important things for new field leaders to learn.

Each lecture is a combination of best practices, lessons learned, and tips and tricks provided by the field leaders themselves – based on their experience and leveraging their extensive knowledge of the role of a field leader. The course is made up of weekly online lectures with real-time student interaction, quizzes, and short video assignments.

We have currently had over 500 students graduate from past FFL courses, and we look forward to welcoming more during the next round of classes. Here are a few comments from our past FFL grads on their weekly classes:

• “Very easy to listen to the instructor, very knowledgeable and personable.”
• “I like learning from someone with a lot of experience and learning how to do the job more efficiently.”
• “I appreciated [the instructor’s] content. I’ve been in the trade for 25 years and have only been running work for the last 3 years. I’ve either been in or around all the situations [the instructor] spoke about today and appreciated his insight. Great ways to handle things.”
• “The information was delivered clearly and was easy to understand. It gave everyone the chance to apply their thoughts and comments.”
• “[I appreciated the instructor] acknowledging the fact that being in this class is a step forward in my career, and it feels good to know my hard work and dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed by my company.”

Registration opens February 10th for our next round of classes, which begin April 16th. There is no limit on how many new or potential field leaders an MCAA member can enroll, but registration will be done on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional classes may be offered based on demand.

Visit the FFL course webpage to learn more about this exciting opportunity for new and future field leaders, and to sign your people up today!