Leland+ Content Library

AMA: M7 MBA Admissions and MBB Recruiting [6/9/2026] (Recording)

Want to break into an M7 MBA program and land an offer from MBB? Join Alec Emmert, a Wharton MBA, former McKinsey consultant, and former McKinsey interviewer, for an open, judgment-free coaching session on MBA admissions, consulting recruiting, and career reinvention. Alec was admitted to Wharton at 35 with a 2.85 undergraduate GPA and later joined McKinsey after being rejected in a previous application cycle. In this session, he’ll share the lessons, strategies, and hard-earned insights that helped him overcome nontraditional odds and answer your questions directly. Bring anything you want to ask about MBA applications, M7 positioning, consulting interviews, networking, overcoming weak spots, or building a compelling story.

Med School Application Strategy AMA: Stop Guessing & Secure Your Acceptance [6/7/2026] (Recording)

When you're building a medical school application, generic advice doesn’t cut it. Your path is unique, and so are your hurdles. You’ve likely spent hours agonizing over conflicting opinions online: Is my MCAT score balanced? Does this clinical experience sound meaningful? How do I address that one bad semester without sounding defensive? The truth? Every minute you spend guessing is a minute you could spend strategically strengthening your application. This live, unfiltered Ask Me Anything (AMA) session is your direct line to an expert medical school admissions strategist. We'll discuss strategies tailored to your situation in real-time and answer your burning questions about what admissions committees actually care about when deciding between applicants.

Home for Ambition #11 — Weekly Live Show [6/10/2026] (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.

The Overrepresented Applicant’s Blueprint to MBA Admissions [6/8/2026] (Recording)

Many MBA applicants from consulting, finance, and technology backgrounds underestimate one of the central challenges of the admissions process: differentiation. In this workshop, I'll breaks down how admissions committees evaluate “overrepresented” applicant demographics — and, more importantly, what separates memorable candidates from interchangeable ones. Drawing on experience coaching applicants across M7 and top global MBA programs, the session explores how candidates can move beyond prestige signaling and build a more distinctive, cohesive, and authentic application narrative. Participants will learn how to: * Understand how admissions committees evaluate candidates from highly competitive industries * Identify the most common positioning mistakes made by finance, consulting, and tech applicants * Build stronger differentiation across essays, resumes, interviews, and recommendation strategies * Develop clearer personal themes, leadership narratives, and career vision * Communicate impact and self-awareness beyond titles, brands, and technical accomplishments * Highlight distinctive experiences, perspectives, and motivations that create memorability * Avoid “over-coached” applications and develop more authentic storytelling * Position career transitions, long-term goals, and leadership potential more strategically Whether you come from investment banking, private equity, consulting, big tech, product management, engineering, or another highly represented background, this session is designed to help you better understand how to stand out in one of the most competitive areas of MBA admissions.

What Made You a Strong Operator May Be Costing You as a Leader [6/16/2026] (Recording)

Strong operators usually get promoted because they’re sharp, reliable, useful, and good at figuring things out. But people leadership asks for a different kind of strength. At some point, the same habits that made you valuable as an operator can start creating drag as a leader. You may find yourself overexplaining, second-guessing, carrying too much in your head, jumping in too quickly, delaying hard conversations, or trying to stay useful in ways that make it harder to actually lead. This session is a practical working session for technical managers and technical leads moving into people leadership. We’ll look at why strong operator habits can become leadership drag, how to spot what is costing you the most right now, and why clearer leadership usually starts with better operating design. You’ll leave with a simple Leadership Drag Audit you can use immediately to identify where your current way of operating is creating unnecessary cost for you, your team, and your leadership presence. This session is especially useful if you are a technical manager who was promoted because you were strong technically, but now you are responsible for delegation, performance conversations, trust, communication under pressure, and leading people without carrying everything yourself. This is the front door to the work I call the People Leadership OS: building a way of leading that fits who you actually are and what your role now requires. This session is for: Technical managers Engineering managers Data engineering managers Analytics engineering managers ML and data science managers Platform, infrastructure, DevOps, and security managers Technical leads moving into people leadership Former senior, staff, or principal ICs who now manage people or are about to

Secondary Applications: Writing Excellent Essays [6/9/2026] (Recording)

Secondary applications can quickly become overwhelming, and many strong applicants lose momentum when it comes time to write dozens of school-specific essays. This session is for medical school applicants who want a clearer strategy for writing compelling secondary responses efficiently and effectively. You’ll learn how to approach common prompts, maintain quality across multiple applications, and craft essays that feel personal without becoming repetitive. Join live to ask questions about your own secondary essays and hear guidance from a coach who completed over 40 secondaries and earned 13 medical school acceptances. The speaker has firsthand experience navigating the volume and pressure of the process and now helps applicants strengthen their writing and application strategy. Expect practical advice and insights similar to what’s covered in 1:1 coaching conversations.

7 Common Mistakes to Avoid in MBA Applications

Are you gearing up to apply to MBA programs and want to ensure your application stands out? Join me, Emily, for an insightful session on the 7 Common Mistakes to Avoid in MBA Applications. With an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and 10 years of professional MBA coaching experience, I've guided hundreds of applicants through the intricate admissions process. This event will provide an overview of several key aspects of the application process, and equip you with knowledge of what to being doing NOW to set yourself up for success in Round 1 applications. Whether you're considering a traditional full-time MBA, a part-time MBA, or any other format, this session will equip you with the knowledge to avoid common pitfalls and maximize your chance of success. Spaces are limited, so be sure to RSVP and secure your spot. I look forward to helping you navigate your MBA journey with confidence!

From Generic to Hired | How to Polish Your CV for AI & Tech Jobs [6/15/2026] (Recording)

Join this practical mentoring session designed to help students, graduates, and early-career professionals improve their CVs for tech and AI roles. Led by an Ex-Microsoft professional and current Agentic AI Engineer at Accenture/Avanade, this session will show you how to move beyond a generic CV and tailor your experience for every job you apply to. We’ll cover how to read job descriptions properly, identify the skills recruiters actually look for, highlight projects and technical experience, use AI/ML keywords naturally, and structure your CV so it feels relevant, clear, and competitive. Whether you’re applying for internships, graduate schemes, AI roles, software engineering positions, data jobs, or consulting roles, this session will give you practical tips you can apply straight away. You’ll learn how to: -> Tailor your CV for each tech or AI job -> Make projects and experiences sound more impactful -> Use keywords without making your CV sound robotic -> Avoid common mistakes that get CVs ignored -> Present yourself clearly, even if you have limited experience A great session for anyone looking to stand out in a competitive tech job market.

The Diversity Statement Demystified: Workshopping the Second Essay [6/16/2026] (Recording)

After this session, you will know how to frame your diversity statement as a scholarly asset rather than a personal biography, and how to avoid the structural mistakes that weaken otherwise strong PhD applications. The workshop will focus on what admissions committees actually look for in this essay: a clear through-line between your background and your intellectual trajectory, and a tone that is reflective without being confessional. Attending live means you can bring your specific framing questions and hear how the coach works through cases in real time, which a recording cannot replicate. The coach reviews diversity statements regularly as part of active PhD admissions coaching, and this session reflects the patterns that consistently separate compelling essays from forgettable ones.

HELP -- I'm Non-Traditional! AMA with Jessica B [6/8/2026] (Recording)

You didn't take the standard path. That doesn't mean you can't get into a top program — it means you need a sharper strategy than most. This is an open AMA for applicants who don't fit the typical mold: career changers, military veterans, physicians, founders, late-career applicants, people with non-linear resumes, or anyone who's ever wondered whether admissions committees will know what to do with them. I've worked with all of you. Since 2006, my clients have come from backgrounds that don't map neatly onto the McKinsey-to-HBS pipeline — and they've gotten into M7 programs anyway, frequently with scholarship. Three times Poets & Quants has recognized me as one of the best admissions consultants in the field. Bring your specific situation. Ask me whether your background is a liability or an asset, how to frame a career that's hard to explain in 250 words, whether EMBA or full-time MBA makes more sense for where you are, or anything else that's been keeping you up at night. No slides. No agenda. Just answers.

The Reapplicant's Advantage: Turning Setback into Strategy. [6/15/2026] (Recording)

For many successful MBA graduates, rejection was not the end of the journey—it was the turning point. When approached with strategy, reflection, and renewed purpose, reapplying can transform a setback into a compelling statement of resilience, growth, and focus. Admissions committees respect candidates who demonstrate perseverance, self-awareness, and the ability to learn from experience—but only when that growth is clear, specific, and credible. This workshop will help you turn a “ding” into a competitive edge. You’ll learn how to conduct a clear-eyed assessment of your previous application, identify what may have held you back, highlight meaningful progress since your last submission, and approach the reapplicant essay with authenticity and impact. More than damage control, the reapplication process is an opportunity to show the admissions committee that you are stronger, more prepared, and more intentional than before. Done well, your reapplication can tell a sharper, more mature, and more persuasive story. By the end of this session, you will be able to: * Conduct a candid self-assessment to identify weaknesses in your previous application and opportunities for improvement. * Demonstrate tangible growth through professional achievements, academic progress, leadership development, and deeper extracurricular or community impact. * Refine your school strategy by aligning more precisely with programs where your fit, goals, and competitiveness are strongest. * Craft a powerful reapplicant essay that emphasizes resilience, growth, and renewed commitment—without sounding defensive or making excuses. * Strengthen recommendations and school engagement by securing enthusiastic advocates and building more authentic connections with your target programs.

Intel Collection for the MBA: Schools, Careers, and the Application [6/11/2026] (Recording)

This is the second session in the MDMP for MBA series series structured around the seven phases of the Military Decision-Making Process. Each session stands on its own, but together they form a complete framework for military and veteran applicants to systematically and strategically approach the MBA admissions process. In this session, we'll focus on mission analysis and cover how to collect HUMINT and AI-enabled SIGINT to improve your understanding of the critical elements of MBA application: target schools (including class profiles, employment outcomes, and culture), post-MBA career paths (industries, functions, recruiting pipelines, compensation), and the components of the application itself (essays, recommendations, and academic preparation. We'll also cover resources available to military and veteran applicants, from the GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon to Service to School and school veterans clubs. By the end, you'll know how to build your candidate school list, how to research post-MBA careers, and how to gather the intelligence that makes every later decision in the process a sound one. Hosted by Ian Kennedy, former Army Special Forces (18E, 1st SFG) and Stanford MBA/MS, who has coached military and veteran applicants into admissions at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, LBS, Duke, and more.

How to Safeguard Your Data While Using AI

As AI becomes part of more workflows, many people are realizing they’re using powerful tools without fully understanding the risks around privacy and data security. This session is designed for professionals, teams, and everyday AI users who want a practical approach to using AI responsibly without slowing down productivity. You’ll learn how to identify common data privacy risks, understand what information should and should not be shared with AI systems, and build safer habits for using AI tools in day-to-day work.

Ship Your First Claude Skill: Live Build

Building with AI becomes much more approachable once you see the process happen in real time. This session is for professionals and builders who want hands-on experience creating their first Claude-powered skill from start to finish. You’ll learn how to structure a practical AI workflow, think through real implementation decisions, and walk away with a working build you can continue developing on your own.

Vibe Coding 101: Build a Real Product with Just an Idea and AI

Have an idea for a product but no clear roadmap for turning it into something real? This session is designed for founders, builders, and curious creators who want to understand how AI can help take a concept from rough idea to working product faster than traditional workflows allow. You’ll learn how to turn ideas into actionable prompts, structure an AI-assisted building process, and avoid common mistakes that slow projects down or create messy outputs.

Your Plan to Build an AI-Native Team in 6 Weeks

Trying to introduce AI into your team without a clear plan can quickly turn into scattered tools, inconsistent adoption, and unclear results. This session is designed for leaders and operators who want a practical roadmap for building a more AI-native team with structure and intention. You’ll learn how to identify high-impact workflows, create systems that encourage adoption across teams, and build a phased implementation plan that drives meaningful day-to-day change over six weeks.

Your Plan to Build an AI-Native Team in 6 Weeks

Trying to introduce AI into your team without a clear plan can quickly turn into scattered tools, inconsistent adoption, and unclear results. This session is designed for leaders and operators who want a practical roadmap for building a more AI-native team with structure and intention. You’ll learn how to identify high-impact workflows, create systems that encourage adoption across teams, and build a phased implementation plan that drives meaningful day-to-day change over six weeks.

McKinsey PEI: Behavioral Story Development Worksheet

This worksheet is a companion tool to the bootcamp / consulting offer week classes I teach on developing a compelling behavioral & PEI story, and walks through two frameworks for how to select a story and how to develop it in order to get to a strong first pass.

Build a Cold Outbound Email Agent

SESSION GUIDE: https://www.lelandcourses.com/ai-builder/cold-outbound-email-agent/ The math of cold outbound never quite works. A genuinely personalized email takes twenty minutes. A templated one gets a one percent reply rate. Either way, you're losing time. ​In this exclusive AI Builder session, Jonathan McLemore will walk you step by step through building a cold outbound email agent powered by Claude, one that researches every prospect on your lead list, writes a personalized first-touch email for each, and queues them up for you to review before sending. By the end of the hour you'll have a working agent ready to put to work the next morning. ​But the email agent is just the on-ramp. The real takeaway is the playbook: how to turn a one-off chat with AI into a repeatable system that processes an entire list the same way, every time. First outbound. Next a lead qualification agent, a customer research bot, a weekly report that writes itself. Same skill, different shape. ​Jonathan builds AI automations for sales teams as the founding solutions engineer at Plinko Solutions. He's done this for a living. Now he'll do it with you. ​Open exclusively to AI Builder Program members.

Build Your Own Competitive Research Agent

​SESSION GUIDE: https://www.lelandcourses.com/ai-builder/competitive-research-agent/ Competitive research is the thing you do once, mean to update, and then never touch again until your CEO asks for it on a Tuesday morning. By then it's six months old, and your competitors have shipped three more things. ​In this exclusive AI Builder session, D'Aaron Gonzalez will walk you step by step through building a competitive research agent powered by Claude, one that pulls from public sources, tracks your competitors over time, and keeps the picture fresh without the manual lift. By the end of the hour you'll have a working agent ready to put to work the next morning. ​But the research agent is just the on-ramp. The real takeaway is the playbook: how to turn any "I should keep tabs on this" task into something AI does for you, on a schedule. First competitors. Next industry news, regulatory changes, your customers' product launches, your own pipeline. Same skill, different shape. ​D'Aaron builds with AI for a living. Now he'll do it with you. ​Open exclusively to AI Builder Program members.