Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda HarNess. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amanda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

The best boss I ever had was actually the last boss I ever had. In fact, he and I both resigned from the same company to start our own businesses as entrepreneurs around the same time. His name is Matt and we are still friends today.

The work I do now is with small and mid-sized organizations, and is focused on effective communication, leadership and management, and growth strategy. As a leadership-nerd, I believe that there are 8 key attributes several key attributes that an effective leader has, and Matt had many of them.

In no particular order, here are all of the key attributes he did really well:
1.) He listened to understand. He didn’t just wait to respond in a conversation, he gave his team members space to speak and tuned into what they were saying intentionally.
2.) He acknowledged perspective. He understood that all of his team members came to him with their own unique life experiences and that these had an effect on the way they showed up. He used this to remain curious and ask questions in order to understand his team better.
3.) He held people accountable. And he was able to have confrontational conversations that did not result in shame, embarrassment, or fear. He held people accountable in productive way.
4.) He showed up authentically in order to build trust. Having trust from your employees builds a high-performing team. And having a high-performing team allows leaders to have trust in their employees.
5.) He valued the impact of how you say what you say. He knew it mattered. He knew that you can’t approach everyone on a team in the same way and expect them all to have the same reaction. So he was thoughtful about delivery when it was important.

Now, I may be stopping at 5 attributes but that is not because that’s where Matt’s qualities concluded. I just know that he will end up reading this and I don’t want his head to get so big that his Loveland Ski Resort hat won’t fit anymore :)

As a leadership expert I am well versed in what it takes to be an effective leader. And having been an employee who experienced working for one, I know even more deeply how positively impacted I was and that fuels my passion even more.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Howdy! I am the Founder and CEO of Business Excelerated. As a business consultant and coach, I focus on working with Leaders to develop high-performing Teams in order to grow faster and easier. We collaborate to investigate and identify the dysfunctions in an organization, strategize goals and plans, implement solutions, and evaluate progress along the way. I also know some really good dad-jokes, and every word to every song ever written (almost… kinda).

My passion and expertise developed over a decade working in the healthcare industry. While I was practicing as a clinician, I was also in leadership and director level positions focused on department-specific and facility-wide initiatives and growth strategies. When I decided to become on entrepreneur I knew that I wanted to continue to work with organizations to help them close the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. And do it in a way that feels really good!

I have education and professional expertise in human behavior, motivational psychology, leadership training, strategic execution, and effective communication. I have been invited to speak and train as an expert at national conferences, panel discussions, and a variety of business podcasts.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I became an entrepreneur one of the primary things I had to unlearn was getting feedback and asking permission for every thing I wanted to do. I was now the ultimate the decision maker. Getting the “go ahead” from a superior was not longer required.

Now, I am still an absolute advocate for collective intelligence and I do ask for feedback and insight from trusted colleagues and friends fairly often. And that is to ensure I am seeing the bigger picture. You can’t read the label from inside the jar, and I use my network around me to help me affirm and confirm my ideas and actions whenever I feel the need.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

The greatest advice I can give a leader and manager is to remain curious. Ask a lot of questions and be in wonder.

Be curious with your employees. Ask them for clarifying information often. Strive to understand who they are, and who you are. Emotional intelligence lies on a spectrum, and curiosity will help you enhance yours.

Be in a place of wonder about what is, and what else could be. Do not assume. If you don’t like a situation or something is going awry, remain in a place of wonder so you can look at things from other perspectives and reframe when needed. This helps you to respond to situations instead of react.

Demonstrating wonder also helps shape a high-performing team who is innovative and focused on development (high morale). A leader or manager’s sense of curiosity becomes contagious and team members then help you to see things you had not before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://businessexcelerated.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-harness-business-excelerated/

Image Credits
Danielle Uhl, Underexposed Photography