2017
Becoming a Coach: Navigating Inside-Out Change
LinkedIn article translating Penny’s doctoral research on how learning coaching skills can change the coach.
Research, publications & presentations
Penny Potter’s scholarship on coaching, development, and organizational life.
Penny’s research asks what happens when people learn to coach, how theory and practice should come together in coach education, and what this developmental work can teach us about leadership.
Selected record
Research that connects learning with practice.
Selected public publications, chapters, presentations, and university work. External links lead to the original publisher, university, conference, or professional source.
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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.
2024
Whole Self Development Through Coach Education
Presentation with Stacey Guenther at the International Leadership Association Global Conference.
2025
ODKM Begins the Integration of Inner Development Goals into Curriculum
George Mason article by Penny Potter, Stacey Guenther and Christine Dua.
2026
Coaching Theory and Knowledge
Chapter 3 in Coaching Education: Foundations of Excellence, co-authored with Ina Gjikondi.
Video
Coaching within an OD context.
Penny explains what coaching is and how it fits within organization development in this George Mason University ODKM video.
Research themes
What the work adds up to.
Across different publications and settings, several themes recur: coaching is complex, becoming a coach can be developmental, rigorous coach education connects theory to practice, and leadership capacity must grow with the complexity leaders face.
Coach education
Becoming a Coach
Why learning to coach can transform the coach — and what that means for leadership development.
Read the topic brief →Leadership complexity
The Complex Choreography of Leadership
What coaching research reveals about perspective-taking, ambiguity, and leading under complexity.
Read the topic brief →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 topic brief →Inner development
Inner Development Before Outer Transformation
Why meaningful organizational change asks leaders to develop their own inner capacities.
Read the topic brief →Coach education
From Skill Training to Coach Education
Why rigorous coach development needs theory, reflection, context, practice, and self-awareness.
Read the topic brief →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 topic brief →Bring research into a real leadership conversation.
Penny’s scholarship is not separate from practice. It informs how she coaches, teaches, and thinks about development.
Professional emailpenny@productive-interactions.com