Leland+ for Executive MBA

MBA Interview Story Bank: Build Your Best Stories Before the Invite [9/10/2026] (Recording)

Great MBA interview answers rarely start with memorizing answers to a list of questions. They start with knowing your own experiences well enough to draw on the right story when you need it. In this session, we’ll show you how to build an MBA interview story bank before interview invitations begin arriving. You’ll identify the strongest experiences from your background and learn how to turn them into flexible stories you can use across dozens of behavioral and school-specific questions. We’ll cover: Which types of stories every MBA applicant should have ready, including leadership, teamwork, conflict, failure, influence, initiative, impact, difficult decisions, and personal growth How to choose your strongest example when several experiences could answer the same question How one experience can support multiple interview questions without giving the same answer repeatedly How to structure stories clearly without sounding rehearsed or robotic How to make your answers specific, reflective, and memorable How to identify gaps in your story bank while you still have time to prepare Whether you have already submitted or are finishing your Round 1 applications, you’ll leave with a practical framework for building the core stories that can support your interviews across multiple MBA programs.

Round 2 Roadmap: 5 Things to Do Now (Not in November) [9/10/2026] (Recording)

Round 2 deadlines feel far away, but many applicants vastly underestimate the time and effort it takes to produce truly standout applications. Do yourself a favor and get started early! Join me as I cover the tactical prep and foundational groundwork you should be doing right now, so when it's time to dive into essays and other application materials, you can hit the ground running and maximize your chances of success.

Finding Your MBA Story: Confused About What Makes You "Unique"? [8/4/2026] (Recording)

Most MBA essays sound exactly alike. Yours doesn't have to. If you have ever stared at a blank essay prompt and thought "I don't know what makes me different" — this session is for you. The truth is that uniqueness is almost never what you think it is. It's rarely the startup you launched or the award you won. It's usually something quieter — how you think, how you connect, how you move through the world. And it's almost always already there. We just have to find it. In this drop-in session we'll cover: Why "standard" profiles actually have more to work with than they think How to find the thread that makes your story specific, coherent, and unmistakably yours How to align your essays, recommendations, and goals around one identity What admissions committees are actually looking for — and why being "impressive" is not the same as being memorable Bring your blank page. Bring your doubts. Bring the question you're embarrassed to ask. We'll find your story together — and we'll give you real answers, not generic advice. Your story is in there. We just have to find it.

MBA Strategy Session: Pick the Right Schools, Tell the Right Story, Apply at the [6/18/2026] (Recording)

In this free 45-minute strategy session, I’ll help you understand how to approach the MBA decision before jumping into applications. We’ll cover how to choose the right MBA format, build a smart school list, assess timing, and start shaping a compelling admissions narrative. What we’ll cover: How to decide whether now is the right time for your MBA Full-time vs Executive vs one-year MBA options How to choose schools beyond rankings What admissions committees look for in strong candidates How to connect your career goals, story, and school selection Common mistakes candidates make when starting too late or applying too broadly This session is especially useful for applicants targeting European and global MBA programs such as IESE, INSEAD, LBS, HEC, Oxford, Cambridge, IE, ESADE, and top US schools. I’ll also share practical insights from my experience as an IESE MBA alumnus, admissions collaborator, professor, and MBA coach.

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.

The most important Sentence Equivalence pairs for your real GRE exam.

This resource contains the most important Sentence Equivalence (SE) vocabulary pairs to prepare for the real GRE. This list has been carefully crafted and refined over years of student feedback. After their official GRE attempts, my students have consistently shared the vocabulary they encountered, the kinds of word relationships they saw, and the Sentence Equivalence pairs and patterns that appeared on their exams. Over time, I have used that feedback to identify the vocabulary and pairings that are particularly valuable for GRE preparation. Rather than overwhelming you with thousands of words, this resource focuses on high-value vocabulary pairs and relationships that closely reflect what students have reported encountering on the actual GRE. The goal is not simply to memorize definitions. Learn these words as pairs and relationships, understand their nuances, and train yourself to recognize when two seemingly different choices ultimately produce sentences with equivalent meanings. Use this alongside official ETS Sentence Equivalence questions. If you know these pairs thoroughly and can recognize them in context, you will be much better prepared for the vocabulary and pairing patterns you may encounter on test day.

Stop a Generic LOR Before It's Written: 3 Things to Do Now [8/4/2026] (Recording)

A strong candidate with a weak, generic letter is a common and preventable mistake. Learn exactly what to send your recommenders so their letter reinforces your narrative instead of undercutting it.

SHARP Interview Worksheet

A comprehensive, actionable framework and workbook designed by Caolan Hunter for high-stakes international interview preparation. This resource introduces the SHARP framework (Situation, Hard Part, Approach, Result, Point), a methodology engineered to eliminate generic responses by injecting specificity, clinical credibility, and visible executive judgment into professional narratives. The document features practical tools for candidates navigating global transitions, including: 1. The Fork in the Road Technique: A diagnostic tool to uncover and articulate active decision-making over passive responsibilities. 2. The Market Adaptation Guide: A regional framework for tailoring delivery styles across the US, UK, Germany/Netherlands, and APAC markets without altering core professional history. 3. Structured Story Templates: Four dedicated layouts optimizing narratives for Leadership, Conflict Resolution, Strategic Pivots, and Resource Constraints. 4. An Interview Mapping Matrix: A tactical guide pairing common high-stakes interview questions with the correct template and timing strategy.

Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Strong MBA Application

Applying to an MBA is not simply about filling out forms, writing essays, and submitting a GMAT or GRE score. A successful MBA application is a strategic project. It requires self-reflection, school research, career clarity, storytelling, execution, and careful timing. The strongest candidates are not always the ones with the most perfect profile. They are usually the ones who understand their own story, know why they need the MBA, choose the right schools, and present a coherent case to the admissions committee. This document provides a basic A-to-Z roadmap for preparing a successful MBA application.

MBA Inteview Guide

How to prepare for IESE, INSEAD, LBS, IE, ESADE and other top European MBA programs A practical two-page preparation guide for MBA admissions interviews. MBA interviews are not just a final checkpoint. They are your chance to show who you are beyond your CV, essays and test scores— and to prove that your goals, values and personality fit the school. A strong interview helps the school understand: Why MBA? · Why this school? · Why now? · Why you?

Example HEC Paris MBA Essays

Multiple real, successful applicant essay sets covering all HEC Paris prompts. See exactly how admits structured winning answers before you write your own.

MBA Scorecard: Rank Every Program to Find Your Fit

A personalized Excel scorecard for ranking every top MBA program that autopopulates based on key criteria you should evaluate in narrowing down your list to your top-choice programs. Weight only the factors that matter to you (e.g., specific career funnels, geography, cost, culture, academics), and score each program out of 100, and see your rankings update live. This includes a filled-out example as well so you can see what a final product looks like. Delete anything that isn't useful, and keep the rest so this search is custom-tailored to you.

Professional CV - two Masters and three Doctorates + work experience!

For anyone looking for a clean, simple, thorough CV template! Includes my background of multiple undergraduate degrees, two Master's degrees, and three Doctorate degrees, along with research bibliography and work experience. Translatable for those entering MBA, Masters, PhD, medical school, dental school, physician's assistant and more.

Sample Columbia Business School Essays

Stuck staring at the Columbia essay prompts? See exactly how admitted applicants pulled it off. This collection includes more than twenty complete essay sets covering every recent CBS question. Read across industries, geographies, and career stages to find approaches that resonate with your own story.

Guide to Negotiating MBA Scholarships

Everything is negotiable, including your MBA scholarship. This guide walks you through the full strategy for increasing your award, from leveraging competing offers to highlighting recent achievements to following up effectively, plus four plug-and-play email templates covering the most common scenarios so you can negotiate with confidence.

Sample MBA Interview Answers

A comprehensive library of sample MBA interview responses across every major question category: leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, communication, self-awareness, resilience, ethics, and adaptability. Each example uses the STAR method to show you exactly how to structure compelling, quantified answers you can adapt with your own experiences.

2026-2027 Columbia Essay Brainstorm

The complete brainstorming workbook for Columbia's 2026-2027 essays. Inside: step-by-step exercises for every prompt, from short answers to Essay 1 goals to Essay 2 collaboration stories to Essay 3 "co-create" arguments, with structured charts to help you organize your stories, research, and outlines before you start drafting.

Example MBA Side Letters

A curated set of real, successful side letters covering both the general format and the specific question prompts required by Chicago Booth, Duke Fuqua, and London Business School. A "general" style side letter (like those requested by INSEAD) is also included. See exactly how effective recommenders structure their letters and answer each school's questions before briefing the person writing yours.

Your Complete Guide to MBA Scholarship Essays

A complete playbook for writing scholarship essays that actually win funding. Inside: a clear framework for what committees want to see. This guide includes ten real, successful examples spanning multiple essay question types and direct scholarship reconsideration requests.

Complete MBA Reapplicant Essay Guide

Reapplicants face a challenge that first-time candidates don't: proving you've genuinely grown since your last attempt. This guide walks you through exactly what a strong reapplicant essay includes, from refined goals to new leadership to addressing weak spots. Includes multiple real, successful reapplicant essays.