PBN 2021 Business Women Awards
Achievement Honoree: Carole Ann Penney, Penney Leadership LLC
PART OF CAROLE ANN PENNEY’S ROLE as a business leadership coach is being a myth buster.
Cultural notions of achieving a successful career by a series of predetermined steps have evolved, Penney points out. Gone are the stringent expectations that every employee will graduate from a four-year college with a degree in their chosen field and climb the corporate ladder, earning sequential promotions and positions within that field.
The founder of Smithfield-based Penney Leadership LLC, Penney works at building clients’ skills in areas such as leading in a crisis, leveraging networks and setting effective goals. But society’s notions on what constitutes a successful career are often outdated, she said.
“The idea of a linear path is a false one,” Penney said. “Being a doctor or lawyer or accountant … there are so many choices even within those fields. As a nurse, for example, you can be in a school or hospital or visiting in homes.
“There are a lot more decisions to make” compared to the collective view of such professions decades ago, she said.
The path to her own professional purpose – leadership coaching – was sparked after Penney took part in a Brown University “Life After Graduation” panel discussion. On the panel, Penney found herself comparing her career path in the nonprofit sector with that of her peers. They all appeared to have found their purpose, while her resume appeared to be more random than strategic, she said.
Penney set about establishing her own inner leadership compass. As she continued to refine her management and coaching skills, Penney took on more-senior titles over the next seven years. She began acquiring credentials that would allow her to help others become grounded in their leadership skills and define their vision of success.
In 2017, Penney began leading Penney Leadership full time and she served 70 clients in 2019. Most, she said, were midlevel professionals who were in some stage of transition.
“Executive coaches are around; I’m there for everybody else,” she said. “Clients come to me when they get a little lost. They want to be more intentional about where they want to go next and there is momentum in that experience to launch them.”
A common theme among Penney’s clients: a desire for work with purpose. Leaders want to feel they are receiving value and that they are valuable, with research showing it is key to employee satisfaction and retention.
This sense of value, and the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction it brings, is unique to each of Penney’s clients, and to herself.