Individual Leadership Development Plan
What personal challenge or leadership issue has brought you here? Effective coaching does not begin by giving advice, but by asking questions. The same can often be said of leadership. Until we can determine, together, what the key questions are that you need to be asking, of yourself and of others, I don't advise committing to any major 'coaching package' or particular methodology. However, we can take a few steps together--to first make sure that the challenge or issue you think you are grappling with is clearly articulated. We will then test your assumptions and, if necessary, try to collect some data to test that understanding before developing an initial action plan. The idea here is to have enough time (more than a brief intro call) to create and evaluate some hypotheses about the opportunities and challenges in front of you, with recommendations to help maximize your growth and learning to address them. If you feel comfortable taking any recommendations and an action plan on by yourself, then we're done. However, we can also determine whether there is additional meaningful support I can provide those efforts, with structured coaching or in other areas. I've developed and used 360 degree assessments, for instance, which can be very effective when used correctly. I'm also an experienced facilitator and consultant that has worked with leaders on change management, conflict resolution, and other organizational challenges (e.g. introducing generative AI initiatives). Depending on your additional need, we will determine if I can provide support, or if I can tap my network to recommend anybody else that might. This package would generally include three one-hour meetings, unless we mutually agree to an alternative format: 1. Initial meeting will focus on your situation, primary challenges you identify, making an effort to articulate a key question (or questions) you want to address 2. Second meeting will review any initial steps taken and any findings to better understand the key question(s) and potential approaches 3. Third meeting will discuss a set of recommendations and action plan that can be employed Prior to the first two meetings, I will ask you to respond to some questions. The more detail you are able to provide in advance, the richer our dialogue can be. I will take primary responsibility for sharing a preliminary set of recommendations and action plan before the third meeting, though this may also require some input from you, as well. I offer this package at a reduced rate because I recognize a short introductory call is not enough to determine if there is a good match between coach and client. My intention is to provide good value whether or not we continue working together afterwards. For now, I invite you to initiate a chat or an intro call if you have any questions.
What's included
- A guided self-assessment to identify key challenges and opportunities for leadership development
- Deeper dive on 1-2 key challenges you face to better understand underlying obstacles and potential resources
- Action plan to collect data or feedback, set effective goals, and create momentum
Meet your expert
Mike H.
Ex-Director of Stanford's Center for Leadership Development and Research
Because I've been an educator (lecturer, coach, consultant, facilitator, program and admissions director) on the topic of leadership', I primarily think of myself as a student. I recognize great leadership takes many forms, and I believe leadership development starts with who you are, what you have to offer, and where you want to go, rather than an abstract idea of what a leader should look or sound like. As we said at the Stanford GSB, it begins not by asking, "what makes a great leader?," but by asking, "why would anybody follow me?" Keep this in mind when applying to school. Maybe there's an archetype of what the perfect applicant looks like, and there are obvious elements that strengthen any application, but the best schools want to recruit people of diverse backgrounds, talents, and perspectives. Rather than trying to fit a particular mold, show how much you would add to the overall mix--intellectually, socially, personally and professionally. In your application, you need to demonstrate why the faculty would value your unique input, why your classmates would learn from your unique experiences, and why the school would be uniquely proud to call you an alum. Having read many applications, I know that what most often stands out are the unexpected things, making an applicant memorable and authentic. Cookie cutter approaches rarely work. Half my career was spent at the Stanford GSB--first as an MBA student, later as Executive Director of the GSB's Center for Leadership Development and Research, and then Director of the Stanford MSx Program and Director of Admissions. I was brought in to the GSB to help oversee the launch of its MBA core leadership curriculum (Leadership Labs, Arbuckle Leadership Fellows, GSB Executive Challenge). Later, I helped revamp the Stanford MSx Program and oversaw admissions. Outside my academic and admissions work, I've had diverse roles: coached and facilitated leadership programs with community leaders and CEOs, worked as a strategy consultant, co-founded a microbrewery, served as a Peace Corps volunteer, been angel investor and advisor to startups. But while I've worn different hats, my approach to making an impact has generally been to help people with great potential to become better leaders. (...OK, maybe the microbrewery had different goals). My recent personal work is focused on the impact that AI is having on leaders, teams, and ...applicants. After writing a book, "Leading Teams in the Era of AI," I became fascinated with the learning and personal development processes that LLMs could support, and turned some of that learning on the admissions process. These experiments led to the launch of MBAI (mbai.app), a platform that uses agentic AI workflows to help MBA applicants develop richer narratives, focused goals, and stronger applications. Sign up and try out some of our tools for free.
