Articles
What it’s like to get career coaching: FAQs about working with me
I believe that the coaching process and toolbox is powerful, meaningful, and essential to helping you capably meet the challenges you face.
But what is it actually like to work with me?
Here's an inside look at some of the common questions I get about the coaching process…
There Are Many True Reasons to Leave a Job
Seven years ago, I made the leap from traditional employment to running my own business. From the outside, you might be tempted to make up a story about how brave and confident I was to make this leap. But it definitely didn't feel that way at the time.
This Will Make You Feel Official
Let’s have a look at how a prop can give you the confidence to walk into a new space with your head held high, or help a gatekeeper take you seriously.
Traveling Beyond Your Home Planet
Seven years ago, when Penney Leadership launched, I set off in my little solo spacecraft. I exited my home planet on Nonprofit and began my journey across the vast solar system.
You’re Right on Time
Even as I start my seventh year as a fully-fledged business owner, the pressure is on to get to a certain place. I actively resist it every day, and remind myself that I'm right on time. Where I am is developmentally appropriate.
The Five Questions You Most Dread at the Thanksgiving Table, and How to Answer Them
Thanksgiving is this week, and while the prospect of gathering around a table with family can be warm and cozy, it can also be a lot.
Because getting together means catching up, and catching up means answering questions about our lives.
Two Undervalued Leadership Skills That Could Be Useful Right Now
Continuing work as usual when there are layers of unthinkable violence and grief playing out is weird at best and completely heartbreaking at worst. Here are two undervalued leadership skills that might be supportive right now, whether you're a formal leader, a parent, or leading yourself through this difficult time.
Constantly Teetering on the Edge
Many of us feel the discomfort of uncertainty in our work, daily.
There's a word that describes the state of insecurity we feel around employment and income: precarity.
Why Talking About Your Marketable Skills Is So Confusing
Understanding and talking about your unique, marketable skill set with clarity and confidence is essential to successfully navigating your professional path. But what if no one has taught you how to do this?
I’m a Beginner at the Wheel…Again
I’ve been driving for 22 years and it’s become second nature. I’ve been navigating my career for almost as long and it still doesn’t feel effortless. Maybe this is something you recognize too?
Summer Reading Recommendations
Here's a roundup of 5 five-star books I've read so far this year, and 5 I have on my nightstand to dive into this summer.
Growing Better, Not Bigger
Take a moment to step back from the given version of American success (grow forward & up!) and ask yourself: What truly feels like success to me?
Six Types of Professional Development & How They Can Serve You
“Professional Development” is a big umbrella. Let’s take a look underneath it in order to understand different types of learning and how they might serve you.
What It Means to Be Mission-Driven
Sometimes people ask what it means when we say that we work with mission-driven professionals. It may not be what you think.
What Is Psychological Safety?
Here's what you need to know in order to truly understand psychological safety and what it means for you at work.
How to Identify the Right-Fit Opportunities
Being strategic means having a filter to assess opportunities for the right fit. Before I say yes to anything these days, I turn to my “Strategy Screener,” which lays out a set of questions that help me understand if this opportunity is something I can merely fit in or if it’s the right fit.
Let’s Talk About Margins
Our culture normalizes overextension, even though it’s anything but normal. Your margins are the border around your capacity. Just like on your resume, they leave blank space to breathe. You need that space in order to absorb things that come up in the moment, adapt plans, or to renew and sustain yourself.
Think Beyond What Is Just Barely Enough
The scrappy culture of nonprofits shaped my worldview not only at work, but in life. Now, as my own boss, I am trying to shift my habits and model what it looks like to operate beyond the bare minimum. I don't want to be scrappy. I want to have resources that match the challenges our business is taking on, and I think you, as my clients, want that, too.
What Gets in the Way of Confident Decision Making?
We hear from clients all the time who are teetering on the edge of a choice, wanting to take the “right” path (whatever that means!) and worried about potential regrets down the road. Today, we’re hearing from Penney Leadership Coach Jessica Crowley on what it means to make a career decision with confidence.