From accounting to asphalt

This week on Pave It Black, we sit down with Amanda Mohr, President of Superior Bowen, whose career journey is a powerful example of how diverse experiences can lead to impactful leadership. Amanda began her professional life in finance and accounting, but her willingness to embrace change and pursue lifelong learning helped her transition seamlessly into one of the industry’s top leadership roles. With a deep sense of purpose and commitment to excellence, Amanda shares how her financial background shapes her approach to leadership.

Amanda reflects on how hard work, authenticity, and adaptability have guided her through each phase of her career. She emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and shares several nuggets of knowledge that have inspired her journey. Her perspective on mentoring and empowering others—especially women through her involvement in Women of Asphalt—underscores the value of inclusive leadership in today’s workforce.

Whether you’re exploring a career shift or trying to find your place in a changing industry, Amanda’s story is full of wisdom and encouragement.

See a sneak peak into our conversation below but be sure to tune in to the whole episode to up your leadership skills! Listen now.

Could tell us how the skills you’ve learned through your career have helped you grow in your leadership in the construction industry?

I think there’s three ways that experience really sharpened my leadership skills. First, I gained operational insight. I really understood both the details of what drove results and the big picture. Second, strategic thinking and risk management. I have an analytical mindset naturally, and so I was able to use that to help balance risks, forecast impacts, and to make sure that the decisions that were made resulted in desired outcomes. I still use those skill sets today in my role where I am analyzing job costs or thinking about an investment in capital expenses or thinking about an org chart and what makes sense and maybe what doesn’t. Then third, change management. I had a lot of change management experiences in finance and found out that merging companies was way more than merging financial statements. It was about addressing the concerns of people and aligning motivations. I heard a saying recently that’s really resonated with me as a leader: I’m not responsible for only what I say, but also for what people hear. And that was true, especially in an environment of high change.

What are the most important leadership skills you see? 

I really highly value courage and lifelong learning, in addition to trust or authenticity. When I think about courage, I think about having the courage to set a vision, stand by it, and bring people along in it. Courage to make the tough decisions, hold people accountable, lean into conflict, and surround yourself with people who are smarter than yourself. One of the things that I learned is courage is not the absence of fear, but it’s pushing forward despite fear. From an authenticity or trust standpoint, people follow leaders that they trust. Trust is built through honesty, transparency, or vulnerability and consistency. In our industry, an industry where safety is critical, it’s utmost importance to connect with people’s hearts, not just their heads. I heard a quote recently by John Maxwell that says: people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.