Articles

Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

Why time management isn’t the problem

Almost every single leader I've coached one on one has come with the goal of improving their time management.

And in almost every single case, their challenge wasn't actually a time management problem at all. Here’s what’s going on instead…

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Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

Which is worse: a micromanager or a hands-off manager?

Getting the balance between micromanaging and hands-off managing was a lot harder than I anticipated.That's what I wrote about in my most recent article for Harvard Business Review, where I offer three red flags that you're leaning too far to either direction—and what you can do to offer your team the support and direction they need to succeed.

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Career Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Career Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

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?

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Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

It's all just practice for the Haunted Mansion.

I'm a major fan of the word "practice." I've even considered getting it tattooed on my arm.

Because that's what everything in life is, really: practice.

In our leadership journeys, we often focus on the destination that we're aiming for: that role we've set our sights on, the moment when we step into leadership by managing direct reports or a heading up a big project, or a specific achievement that we think will give us the sense that we've finally "arrived."

But leadership is not something that suddenly kicks in when you reach a destination. It's a practice that happens all along the way.

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Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

I want to be famous.

A few weeks ago, I submitted an audition video for a TEDx event.

Speaking at TEDx has been calling to me for a few years now. The idea of getting the opportunity (and the public speaking coaching) to share a powerful, resonant idea with a room full of people sounds scary to me in a good way—the kind of scary that calls me into a greater version of myself.

In the end, I didn't get it…and here’s what that made me realize.

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Career Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Career Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

#CareerDiaries: Quitting Doesn't Make You a Quitter

In this edition of #CareerDiaries, we'll hear from a 30 year-old nonprofit professional who, after seven years with her organization, is talking herself through the roller-coaster of putting in her notice and launching her own business.

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Resource Fridays, Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Resource Fridays, Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

Resource Friday 4/23

Listen in as Muriel Wilkins coaches client Daniela on how to show up to her leadership role as confident, calm, and credible in this episode of HBR’s podcast: Coaching Real Leaders - Finding Your Leadership Voice.

It doesn’t come just by thinking “act confident!”—it comes with supportive mindsets, skill, and physical preparation…

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Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

What does it really mean to be a resilient leader?

Toughing through the hard stuff is part of our work as mission-driven leaders. But too often, we push it too far.

We hold resilience up as a virtue that we all need more of—we are rewarded for muscling through, for sacrificing in service of the mission.

Here’s how we’re getting the meaning of resilience wrong, and a more useful definition that supports sustainable leadership…

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Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder Leadership Carole-Ann Penney, Founder

Insecurity & Leadership

I have a new puppy / sidekick / coworker named Rosie. She's an adorable, quickly-growing, rescue beagle/terrier mix, and she is my first dog ever. What does having a dog have to do with leadership? As it turns out—everything.

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