Leland+ for Career Coaching

Resume Audit Checklist

The Resume Audit Checklist is an insider’s blueprint designed to help you navigate the "dual-lens" of modern hiring by passing AI-driven bot filters and capturing human recruiter attention in under 10 seconds. It provides a technical, data-driven framework to re-engineer your experience into high-impact, "X-Y-Z" compliant narratives that prove your value to Fortune 50 firms.

STAR Story Builder

The STAR Story Builder is a one-page worksheet that helps you turn your work experience into interview-ready impact stories. Using the STAR framework and the X-Y-Z formula, you will walk away with a clear, measurable story that answers the behavioral questions hiring managers actually ask. Built by Andrew Cause, #5 Career Expert on Leland, with 4,200+ coaching minutes and insights from years of recruiting at JPMorganChase, EY, and Fisher Investments.

Career Pivot Asset Map

Think you're starting from zero on your career pivot? You're not. This worksheet maps the credibility, skills, and knowledge you've already built, then shows you exactly how they transfer, plus helps you name the one real gap worth closing before you apply.

Co-thinking with AI: Beyond the Hype, Into Your Edge [7/6/2026] (Recording)

AI isn't a search engine — and treating it like one is costing you. In this 45-minute working session, we tackle the cognitive dependence trap head-on: the quiet habit of letting AI generate, decide, and summarize while your own critical thinking atrophies. Leaders and employees who thrive in the AI era aren't the ones who use it most — they're the ones who use it right. You'll leave with practical co-thinking prompts designed to sharpen your judgment, accelerate your best ideas, and position you as someone who leverages AI without being leveled by it. Reserve your spot today!

The $10K Conversation: Negotiation Strategies That Actually Work

In this live workshop, we’ll break down exactly how to negotiate your salary and job offer confidently, professionally, and strategically. Whether you’re applying to graduate internships, early-career roles, or experienced professional positions, this session will teach you how to advocate for yourself and potentially increase your compensation by thousands. We’ll cover: - The biggest salary negotiation mistakes candidates make - What recruiters actually expect during negotiations - How to research your market value - What to say (and what NOT to say) - Scripts for emails and live conversations - How to negotiate beyond salary: PTO, bonuses, flexibility, and more This session is designed to be practical, interactive, and confidence-building — especially for professionals who were never taught how to navigate these conversations. Come ready to learn the strategies behind the conversation that could change your earning trajectory for years to come.

From Constantly Overwhelmed to Back in Control [7/22/2026] (Recording)

Feeling overwhelmed has become the norm for many people, but staying there doesn’t have to be. In this session, we’ll explore why overwhelm happens, how it impacts focus, energy, and decision-making, and what it takes to regain a sense of control. You’ll walk away with a practical strategy to reduce mental clutter, prioritize what matters, and create a more sustainable way of working and living.

How High Performers Avoid Burnout & Sustain Performance [7/21/2026] (Recording)

High performers are often the people most at risk of burnout. When you’re ambitious, capable, and highly responsible, it’s easy to fall into patterns of constantly pushing harder, staying “on,” and carrying more than is sustainable over time. In this session, we’ll discuss how high performers approach energy, recovery, and sustainability differently so they can continue performing at a high level without running themselves into the ground. We’ll cover: - Why burnout often happens even in high achievers who are performing well - The relationship between energy management, recovery, and sustainable performance - Common habits and patterns that quietly drain focus, motivation, and resilience - Practical ways to reset mentally throughout the workday and workweek - How recovery supports stronger decision-making, sustained performance, and long-term growth This session is designed for professionals who want to perform at a high level more sustainably, protect their energy, and create long-term success without sacrificing their well-being. This workshop is part of a free 3-part Sustainable High Performance series for ambitious professionals.

From Overlooked to Indispensable: The Visibility Strategy for High Performers [6/19/2026] (Recording)

You're doing the work. You're getting results. And somehow, the wrong people are getting the credit, the promotions, and the rooms you should be in. In this 45-minute session, we go beyond "speak up more" and into the real psychology of why high performers become invisible — and what actually moves the needle. Drawing on behavioral science, enterprise leadership experience, and hard-won patterns from the field, you'll walk away with a concrete visibility framework and the self-awareness to know exactly where your gap is. This isn't soft. This is strategy.

How to Make a Big International Career Move Without Wrecking Your Momentum [7/11/2026] (Recording)

Most international moves are planned as logistical exercises of visas, postcodes, and shipping boxes. But for high-performing professionals, the real risk isn't the paperwork; it’s the loss of career momentum. Whether you are choosing between staying where you are, applying for a degree abroad, or making a direct leap into a new market, the stakes are high. In this session, we move beyond the "backpacking expat" advice. We will look at how to evaluate international opportunities through a strategic lens, ensuring your next move compounds your future rather than interrupting it. We’ll discuss the exact frameworks used with mid-career professionals and high-achieving students to choose between cities like Copenhagen, Vienna, or Sydney, and how to know when a degree is a bridge, and when it’s just expensive avoidance. By the end of this livestream, you will be able to: 1. Apply the 4-Part Decision Lens: Evaluate any move based on career upside, visa/work-right reality, ROI/financial runway, and emotional sustainability. 2. Audit Your Path: Determine whether a direct job search, a Master’s/MBA bridge, or a hybrid strategy is the most viable route for your specific career stage. 3. Identify Momentum Killers: Recognize the common mistakes (like over-researching or under-translating experience) that cause high-performers to stall during relocation. 4. Draft a Post-Move Narrative: Begin framing your move so it fits into a coherent professional story that international recruiters actually trust. Outcomes 1. A Clearer Go/No-Go Framework: A structured way to stop second-guessing your choice between staying or going. 2. A Bridge Audit: Clarity on whether that degree you're considering is actually necessary for your target market's visa and hiring rules. 3. The Translation Checklist: A list of what in your current background needs to be pruned or massaged to make sense to an employer in a different system.

Ultra Practical Playbook for Job Searching in 2026 [7/22/2026] (Recording)

I'll share the step by step framework that I used to secure 5 different job offers over the last 3 years. Job searching is tough, but when you go about it in a strategic way you can see results. This workshop is all about how to get a good job fast. It's for people who don't have months and need to get a lot done in a little amount of time.

Home for Ambition #12 — Weekly Live Show [6/17/2026] (Recording)

Home for Ambition is a weekly live show, by Leland, for people trying to stay ahead as work, learning, and opportunity keep changing. Each episode tackles a handful of timely, high-signal topics across AI, careers, education, and the future of work. We expect thoughtful debate, unique perspectives, and practical takeaways you can actually use. It is not a typical interview show or a generic news recap. It is a live roundtable built to help ambitious people make sense of what is changing, understand what matters, and leave with a sharper point of view on how to navigate what comes next.

Should You Go to Grad School? [8/22/2026] (Recording)

Are you contemplating whether grad school is the right path for you? Ask yourself these 5 questions first. Here, I'll share my personal experiences preparing for (and going through) grad school, what has worked (and hasn't) for my students, and my perspective as a former AdCom member of Carnegie Mellon University's MSCF program (the #3 financial engineering master's in the US). Spaces are limited, so be sure to RSVP and secure your spot today!

Why Strong People Start Looking Weak in New Rooms — And How to Fix It [7/22/2026] (Recording)

It is a painful irony: you are technically excellent, you have a proven track record, and you’ve earned your seat, but the moment you enter an unfamiliar professional culture or a more senior global room, you start sounding less clear than you actually are. This is the phenomenon of being "Badly Translated." When high-performers move into global teams (like my clients at Netflix APAC) or competitive international interviews, they often default to tactical, deferential, or over-explanatory habits that make them appear more junior than they are. This livestream is about reclaiming your signal. We will break down why your experience isn't landing and how to shift from sharing information to demonstrating judgment. By the end of this livestream, you will be able to: 1. Spot the Deferential Trap: Identify the specific linguistic and behavioral habits that make you sound like an executor rather than a peer in senior meetings. 2. Master Recommendation Language: Move beyond just asking questions or providing updates to using the phrasing that senior leaders use to direct attention. 3. Shift from Biography to Positioning: Reframe your self-introduction so that it highlights your judgment and impact rather than just a list of tasks you’ve performed. 4. Audit Your Visibility: Understand the Invisible High-Performer pattern and how to enter a conversation early enough to help define the question, not just answer it. Outcomes 1. The Senior Signal Toolkit: A set of 5 specific entry-lines and phrases you can use in your next global meeting to sound more strategic. 2. Interview Re-Framing: A new way to answer "Tell me about yourself" that stops being a history lesson and starts being a value proposition. 3. Confidence Audit: A personal diagnostic to see where your meeting confidence is dropping and whether the gap is lack of knowledge or a habit of seeking permission.

Ask me anything: Job Searching in a Challenging Job Market [7/29/2026] (Recording)

The job market is challenging right now. Job searches are taking longer and old approaches aren't working the way they used to. It's a long game. So having the right mindset and strategies are even more important. In this "Ask me anything," we'll be talking about: - Job search mindset - Finding purpose - Job search networking - Thoughts for career pivoters - Avoiding burnout - Interview prep ... and any other job search topics that come up.

How to Interview for International Roles Without Sounding Generic [6/30/2026] (Recording)

If you're applying for international roles, getting the interview is only part of the challenge. The next step is knowing how to talk about your experience in a way that feels clear, credible, and relevant, especially in competitive processes where many candidates sound polished, qualified, and ultimately interchangeable. In this webinar, we’ll look at why strong candidates often come across as too broad, too rehearsed, or not specific enough in interviews, and what to do instead. We’ll cover how to give sharper answers, present your experience more strategically, and communicate in a way that feels confident without sounding forced. In this webinar, you'll learn: - why candidates often sound generic in international interviews - how to answer common questions with more clarity, specificity, and credibility - how to talk about your experience in a way that highlights relevance, not just responsibility - how to build stronger examples that show judgment, ownership, and impact - how to adapt your story for different roles, markets, and interview styles - how to sound more natural and convincing without over-rehearsing By the end of the session, you’ll leave with: - a clearer understanding of what makes interview answers memorable and persuasive - a stronger framework for structuring your responses - more clarity on how to present your background for international opportunities - practical ways to improve the way you speak about your experience in interviews This webinar is for professionals who: - are applying for international roles in English-speaking or global environments - feel their interview answers are too vague, too long, or not landing well - want to present themselves more clearly in recruiter screens and formal interviews - have relevant experience but struggle to communicate it with impact - want to sound more thoughtful, credible, and competitive in high-stakes interviews Whether you already have interviews coming up or want to improve before you start applying, this session will help you speak about your experience in a way that is more focused, more convincing, and more effective.

Build Confidence Before You Feel Ready [8/18/2026] (Recording)

Confidence isn't something you're born with, and it's not something you have to wait to feel before taking action. It's something you build. Yet many ambitious professionals find themselves waiting until they feel "more confident" before speaking up in meetings, pursuing a promotion, making a career change, or taking on new opportunities. The truth is that confidence is often the result of action, not the prerequisite for it. In this workshop, I'll share a practical framework for understanding how confidence is built and the simple habits that help strengthen it over time. What We'll Cover: - Why waiting to "feel confident" often keeps us stuck - The Confidence Loop: a practical framework for building confidence through action - The three building blocks of confidence: Clarity, Courage, and Evidence - Simple practices to strengthen confidence in your career and everyday life - How to create lasting momentum by taking small, consistent steps forward You'll leave with a practical framework and actionable tools to help you build greater confidence, trust yourself more deeply, and move forward even when you don't feel completely ready.

Why Your Career Pivot Story Isn't Working...(for Midlife Professionals) [8/12/2026] (Recording)

You're not confused about whether to make a change. You're stuck on how to talk about it — to a former colleague, an interviewer, or yourself at midnight. This session is where that starts to shift. If you've been circling a career pivot for a while, you've probably noticed: the story you tell about it keeps coming out sideways. Too vague to be useful. Too hedged to be believed. Too much "I think maybe" and not enough of what you actually know. That's not a confidence problem. It's a structural one — and it's fixable in an hour. In this live session, you'll learn the two reasons pivot stories fall flat, try a tool that fixes both, and leave with one sentence you can actually say out loud — to a network contact, a recruiter, or the mirror. Is this for you? This session is a strong fit if: - You're in your 30s through 60s, with real work experience behind you, and you're thinking seriously about what's next - You have some runway — roughly 6 to 18 months — to land the right opportunity, not just an opportunity - You're motivated by finding alignment with your values and what you actually want from work now, not just by urgency - You're willing to turn your camera or microphone on and participate live — this session works because people do the exercise in real time, not because they watch it happen to someone else - You want a space to practice out loud without being judged for not having it all figured out yet This session is probably not the right fit if: - You have less than 5 years of full-time work experience - You need a job immediately — this is not a job-search-urgency session - You don't currently have the bandwidth for live participation and follow-through — which is completely fine, just not what this hour is for - You're looking to observe rather than engage, or you're not open to being contacted afterward with next steps and prompts to keep moving What you'll walk away with - One reframe — why direction matters more than clarity, and why waiting to feel "sure" is quietly keeping you stuck - One tool — the pivot sentence: a way to describe where you're headed that doesn't sound like a résumé or an apology - One real next step — no pressure, no pitch, just an open door if you want to keep going

Avoid Burnout During Recruiting Cycles [6/22/2026] (Recording)

Job searching while managing work, family responsibilities, financial pressure, or everyday life can quietly become overwhelming. Many people approach recruiting as an “always on” process — constantly applying, preparing, networking, and second-guessing decisions — until exhaustion starts affecting their focus, confidence, and well-being. In this practical and supportive session, former Amazon Recruiting Leader and Executive Coach Lisa Lawrence shares a structured approach to navigating recruiting cycles without burning out. Drawing from years of experience in hiring, coaching, and leadership, Lisa breaks down how to approach the process more intentionally — with better systems, clearer priorities, and healthier boundaries. You’ll learn how to manage the mental load of job searching alongside existing responsibilities, prepare effectively without falling into endless “grind mode,” communicate your experience with greater clarity, and make more grounded decisions throughout the process. The session also includes simple mindfulness and nervous system regulation practices designed to help you stay focused, resilient, and clear-headed during periods of uncertainty and transition. In this session, we’ll cover: • Why recruiting feels so mentally draining • How to structure your search more sustainably • Setting boundaries while balancing work and job hunting • Smarter approaches to interview preparation and networking • How to communicate your impact and experience clearly • Simple mindfulness tools to reduce overwhelm and improve clarity • Avoiding the “always applying” cycle that leads to burnout