Leland+ Content Library

Nailing Questions for Your MBA Interviewer

A practical guide to asking thoughtful, strategic questions during MBA interviews—tailored for different types of interviewers and school formats.

The Internal Pivot Playbook

How to move into a new role, function, or business unit without leaving your company: the full arc most professionals navigate alone and without a roadmap. This guide covers how to diagnose whether an internal pivot is the right move, how to position yourself before anyone knows you’re interested, how to have the conversation with your manager, how to navigate the three most common responses, what to negotiate (and how), and how to land well in the new role without the overconfidence trap.

McKinsey PEI Masterclass: Learnings from 80+ Clients [7/13/2026] (Recording)

Breaking into McKinsey is hard, but it’s not random. In this session, I’ll show you what top candidates do differently to get noticed, win interviews, and turn cases and PEI stories into offers. You’ll leave with a sharper strategy, a clearer prep plan, and the insider playbook I wish I had when I was applying.

Columbia Sample Essay – Why CBS is the Right Academic and Personal Fit

An essay blending personal connection and professional ambition, outlining how Columbia’s dual-degree program, NYC location, and inclusive community align with the applicant’s goals as a mission-driven entrepreneur.

HBS Example Essay – Leading Through Loss and Building a Cross-Cultural Bridge

A powerful essay recounting how the author stepped up after a mentor's sudden passing to lead high-stakes negotiations between German leadership and the Russian government, highlighting resilience, cultural fluency, and emergent leadership.

UChicago Extended Essay – A Letter to a Bicycle and a Changing Neighborhood

A creative response to UChicago’s choose-your-own prompt, written as a heartfelt letter to a shopkeeper’s bike, exploring themes of community, technology, and personal impact through storytelling.

Map and Activate Your LinkedIn Network with Claude [5/13/2026] (Recording)

You have hundreds of LinkedIn connections you've never done anything with. In this hands-on session, we'll turn your exported LinkedIn data into a working professional CRM in Notion — no automation tools, code, or technical setup required. Using a Claude prompt, we'll categorize your top contacts by relationship tier, industry, and relevance, then drop everything into a pre-built Notion template so you know exactly who to reach out to, when, and what to say. You'll also get a read on what content resonates with your specific network, which feeds directly into what we build in the next session. Pre-work: Request your LinkedIn connections export at least 24 hours before the session (Settings → Data Privacy → Get a copy of your data). LinkedIn emails it within 24 hours and it only takes 2 minutes to request. Outcome for attendees: A populated Notion CRM with their top LinkedIn contacts categorized into tiers, a suggested next action for each, and a content resonance analysis showing what topics will actually land with their network. Session pre-requisites: Claude account & Notion account — free is fine 🙂

Product Recruiting AMA with a PM from LinkedIn, Uber, and a Startup

Hear insights from a Product Manager from LinkedIn, Uber, and a startup! Get your questions answered on product recruiting, career paths, and breaking into top tech roles.

Vibe Coding For Beginners: What It Is and How to Start Today

Vibe coding is one of the most talked-about shifts in tech right now — and for good reason. Non-technical people are building real, functional software by describing what they want in plain language and letting AI do the rest In this 45-minute intro, we'll pull back the curtain on one of the most talked-about shifts in tech right now and show you exactly how non-technical people are using it to build real, functional software without writing a single line of code themselves. You'll walk away with a clear mental model, a live demo, and a concrete starting point. What we'll cover: *What vibe coding is (and why it's different from anything before it) *The three tools shaping the space right now: Loveable, Cursor, and Claude Code *A live demo so you can see it in action, not just hear about it *What you can realistically build, and where you'll still need support *Your actual next step to get started today Who this is for: Total beginners. No coding experience required, just curiosity and an idea you've been waiting to bring to life.

Your Master’s Application Roadmap: What to Do Early and Why It Matters

A strong master’s application starts long before deadlines hit. This session is designed to help you understand what to do early—and why those early moves matter so much. You’ll learn how to plan your timeline, prioritize key components like testing, essays, and recommendations, and avoid last-minute mistakes that weaken applications. Whether you’re just beginning to explore programs or getting ready to apply, you’ll leave with a clear roadmap and confidence in your next steps.

Fix Your Essay Before It's Read and Forgotten [8/18/2026] (Recording)

Most MBA essay drafts are competent and entirely forgettable. Learn what separates a safe essay from one that gets remembered by an admissions committee reading hundreds of applications a week.

Authorship and Originality in AI assisted Creative Work [8/14/2026] (Recording)

AI can generate content fast, but it is virtually impossible to preserve originality and authorship in AI-assisted work. People end up generating content that no one likes to read or watch. Even if it is sometimes creative enough and not generic, it is still not the author's unique original work. Prompt, context, harness, intent, loop- none of these engineering can solve this, as the work is open-ended. Creatives, or anyone interested in combining AI processing power and speed with human originality and authorship in content creation, can benefit from this lesson.

Scholarship-Winning MBA Applications: Profiles and Key Steps [9/7/2026] (Recording)

This livestream highlights what truly makes an MBA application scholarship worthy. Is it your GPA? Your GMAT score? Your professional performance or experience? Your extracurricular impact? This session walks through the most important factors at both the MBA and EMBA levels (they have differing criteria) and provides profiles of applicants who won top scholarships to schools like Stanford and Wharton. Viewers will learn how to demonstrate the needed credentials and qualities across essays, recommendations, and the résumé to make a compelling case. When your materials show your classmates will learn as much from you as from the curriculum, you become the kind of candidate top business schools want to invest in. Join this livestream to learn best practices and assess whether your application is currently scholarship-worthy or whether you need to take key steps to improve it.

AMA...about writing, publishing, and promoting a book [9/8/2026] (Recording)

Most people who want to write a book have more questions than answers. This session is your chance to ask them. Bring whatever is on your mind about writing and publishing. Should you write a book? How do you choose between traditional, academic, and self-publishing? What does a writing partnership actually look like? What goes into a book proposal? How do you market a book after it's published? All of it is fair game. I've been a writing partner on 27 published books — most with Wiley — on entrepreneurship, startups, venture capital, and leadership. I serve on the Editorial Board of Entrepreneur & Innovation Exchange (EIX), reaching 15 million readers annually. I have a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago and have published my own books with the University of Chicago Press. This session is free and open to anyone thinking about writing a book. Everyone who attends gets my Book Readiness Checklist — a one-page diagnostic to help you figure out exactly where you are in the process and what your next step should be.

Inside Private Equity: Ask a PE Founder and Former BlackRock Director Anything

Private equity can be hard to break into and even harder to fully understand from the outside. This session is for candidates who want a candid look into the industry from someone who has operated at a high level and built their own firm. You’ll learn how private equity professionals think about investing, what the day-to-day actually involves, and how candidates can better position themselves for roles in the field.

Defining the 1%: The Skills and Habits Behind 99th Percentile LSAT Scores

Scoring in the 99th percentile on the LSAT requires more than just practice—it reflects a specific set of skills, habits, and ways of thinking that most test takers never fully develop. This session is for students aiming to break into the 170s who want to understand what truly separates top scorers from the rest. You’ll learn how high scorers approach each section, the study habits that drive consistent improvement, and what differentiates performance across the 150s, 160s, and 170s.

What Deferred MBA Essays Need to Accomplish, and How to Get There

Deferred MBA essays are less about polished resumes and more about potential, clarity of goals, and long-term impact, and getting them right requires a very specific approach. In this session, you’ll learn what top programs actually expect deferred candidates to demonstrate, how admissions committees read these essays differently from traditional MBA applications, and how to structure your responses to show maturity, self-awareness, and trajectory. We’ll break down common pitfalls, winning themes, and practical steps to move from a blank page to a compelling final draft with confidence.

PM Recruiting 2026: What’s Changing and How to Stand Out This Cycle

Product management recruiting is evolving—candidate pools are growing, expectations are shifting, and what worked in past cycles may not be enough for 2026. To stand out this year, you need more than solid PM skills; you need clear positioning, a strong narrative, and a deep understanding of what companies are prioritizing right now. In this session, we’ll break down what’s changing in PM recruiting for 2026 and how you can adapt your strategy to stay competitive. The session will be led by an experienced PM coach who has helped candidates successfully navigate PM recruiting across top tech companies. Drawing on firsthand coaching and hiring insights, they’ll walk through current recruiting trends, how recruiters and hiring managers evaluate candidates, and the specific ways top applicants differentiate themselves in resumes, interviews, and storytelling. You’ll leave with practical, actionable guidance you can apply immediately as you prepare for the 2026 recruiting cycle.

The Truth About Deferred MBA Essays: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why

In this session, Leland Coach Kristen H., a HBS and GSB deferred admit and expert in early-career MBA strategy, will pull back the curtain on what separates successful essays from forgettable ones. You’ll walk away with a clear understanding of how to approach each essay prompt strategically — and how to make your essays stand out in a competitive Deferred MBA cycle.

2 Must-Haves for Round 2 And What To Do Right Now!

​Round 2 deadlines are right around the corner - is your application ready? Bruce H. and Betsy M. have over 30 years of MBA admissions experience and they will share the 2 essential things you MUST have in your application. ​Deadlines are coming up fast and Betsy and Bruce will give you their best advice on what you should be doing RIGHT NOW to produce your strongest application by January. They will also talk about whether it is better to apply this year or if waiting until next year will give you a better chance of attending your dream school.