01
Leadership & Executive Coaching
Explore this work →For leaders who need room to think clearly about complexity, stakeholder dynamics, change, direction, and the kind of leadership the situation requires.
Leadership coaching · coach education · organization development
Human conversations for complex work.
Penny Potter, PhD helps leaders and organizations navigate complexity through coaching, reflective practice, adult development, and better conversations. Her work bridges scholarship with the realities of leadership.
Penny Potter, PhDLeadership coach · educator · researcher
2006Coach-practitioner since 2006
PhDHuman & Organizational Systems
GMUDirector of Coach Education, ODKM
ResearchAdult development & coach education
How Penny works
Not a formula. A thinking partnership.
Coaching is most useful when the answers are not obvious. Penny works with people who are managing ambiguity, responsibility, and change—and who want a conversation that helps them see more clearly rather than simply receive advice.
02
Career & Professional Transitions
Explore this work →For experienced professionals testing possibilities, making sense of identity shifts, and moving from “I know what I do not want” toward informed experiments and new direction.
03
Organization Development & Coaching Culture
Explore this work →For teams and organizations that want stronger conversations, more reflective leadership, and practical ways to build coaching capability into everyday work.
04
Coach Education & Development
Explore this work →For coaches and coach educators interested in evidence-based practice, theory, reflective development, and the deeper learning involved in becoming a coach.
Penny Potter, PhD
Scholarship that stays connected to real work.
Penny is a seasoned coach, educator, researcher, and founder of Productive Interactions. She is Director of Coach Education and adjunct faculty in George Mason University’s Organization Development and Knowledge Management program. Her research focuses on what happens developmentally when people learn to coach, and what rigorous coach education requires.
Before focusing on coaching and organization development, Penny worked in technology and project leadership. That experience—especially bringing people back into productive dialogue when projects became difficult—continues to shape her practical, human-centered approach.
Primary expertiseLeadership coaching, coach education, adult development, organization development
Academic roleDirector of Coach Education, George Mason University ODKM
CredentialsPhD Human & Organizational Systems; MS Organization Development & Knowledge Management; EMCC Senior Practitioner
Insights & research
Ideas for leaders navigating change.
Penny’s public work spans coaching, adult development, career transitions, inner development, organization development, and the human questions raised as AI becomes part of team life.
Coach education
Becoming a Coach
Why learning to coach can transform the coach — and what that means for leadership development.
Read the insight →Leadership complexity
The Complex Choreography of Leadership
What coaching research reveals about perspective-taking, ambiguity, and leading under complexity.
Read the insight →Career transition
You Can’t Think Your Way Into the Next Chapter
Why experiments, new experiences, and identity work matter in professional transitions.
Read the insight →Inner development
Inner Development Before Outer Transformation
Why meaningful organizational change asks leaders to develop their own inner capacities.
Read the insight →Coach education
From Skill Training to Coach Education
Why rigorous coach development needs theory, reflection, context, practice, and self-awareness.
Read the insight →AI & teams
Relational Intelligence in the Age of AI
As AI joins teams, human judgment, trust, listening, and relational responsibility become more important.
Read the insight →Watch Penny
Coaching within an organization development context.
In this George Mason University ODKM video, Penny explains coaching and how it fits within organization development.
Selected scholarship
Research, writing & presentations.
A selected record of Penny’s public scholarship and teaching on coaching, adult development, coach education, inner development, and leadership.
2017
Becoming a Coach: Navigating Inside-Out Change
LinkedIn article translating Penny’s doctoral research on how learning coaching skills can change the coach.
2020
The Complex Choreography of Becoming a Coach
Book chapter in Maturing Leadership: How Adult Development Impacts Leadership.
2020
Becoming a Coach: Making Sense of Coaching Students’ Transformative Experiences
Research chapter in Innovations in Leadership Coaching: Research and Practice.
2023
A Call for Clarity and Pragmatism in Coach Education
Peer-reviewed article with Erek Ostrowski in International Coaching Psychology Review, 18(2), 96–107.
2024
Why Teaching Coaching Theory Matters
GSAEC Standards Series presentation with Gordon Medlock on theory, knowledge and rigorous coach education.
Experience
Work across public, private, and mission-driven organizations.
Penny’s client experience includes leaders and organizations working on consequential issues—from complex institutions to global and mission-driven work.
World BankLeadership and organizational work
UN FoundationMission-driven organizational context
Gates FoundationLeadership and organizational work
U.S. federal agenciesPublic-sector leadership environments
Direct answers
What does Penny Potter specialize in?
Penny specializes in leadership coaching, coach education, adult development, organization development, career transitions, and coaching cultures. Her work is especially relevant when leaders or organizations are navigating complexity, ambiguity, identity shifts, or meaningful change.
Who does Penny work with?+
Leaders, experienced professionals, teams, organizations, coaches, and coach educators who value reflection, evidence-informed practice, and thoughtful human conversation.
What is Productive Interactions?+
Productive Interactions is Penny Potter’s coaching and organization development practice, focused on human conversations at work: leadership coaching, professional transitions, coach education, and organizational development.
How can I contact Penny?+
Email penny@productive-interactions.com or book a conversation through Calendly.
Start with a conversation.
If you are leading through complexity, reconsidering what comes next, or exploring how coaching can strengthen your organization, begin by talking with Penny.
Professional emailpenny@productive-interactions.comLinkedInPenny Potter, PhD ↗