My name is Andy McConnell, and I am a Group Process Consultant and Leadership Coach and founder of Leading Patterns Consulting. I am also principal of McConnell Built, a successful carpentry firm located in West Seattle. While working on construction sites, I have observed how communication drastically affects the quality of the final product and the profit margin of the work we do. Over the years, I invested a great deal of time and energy studying group dynamics, simply because I was curious to learn more about how to form and maintain effective teams for my own business.
My curiosity became a true passion, and I decided to go back to school, earning my Masters Degree in Applied Behavioral Science from the Leadership Institute of Seattle at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. My thesis focused on transition management– appropriate in that I made a rather large career transition from carpentry to consulting. I have worked with leaders in both "for-profit" and "non-profit" sectors as well as led others to create high quality carpentry projects. One of my garden house creations is to be featured in an upcoming issue of Sunset Magazine– a feat that I acheived, thanks to the support of an awesome team.