the Vanderbilt MBA Leadership Development Program

Don't just learn business. Learn to lead.

What sets the Vanderbilt MBA Leadership Development Program apart from similar programs at other business schools?

Our program features individualized, tailored leadership development that meets students where they are in a personal journey toward realizing their own leadership potential.

Vanderbilt is the only business school in partnership with Korn/Ferry International and Hogan Assessments, premier tools used by Fortune 500 companies to help build leadership skills. These techniques are integrated into our MBA program alongside other leading practices such as executive coaching and leadership learning experiences. 

The development that students receive here is typically reserved for top-level executives who are well into their careers. As a result, our students get a true head start that benefits them for years. And every year we improve LDP based on industry, academic and program measurement research.

How it works.

Students self-select into the Leadership Development Program (LDP) and take ownership of their development as a leader. Students participate in LDP outside of their for-credit coursework.

Year One

Assess your strengths and weaknesses.

Start with the Hogan Assessment, which uncovers your strengths and targets areas for improvement. By heightening awareness of your natural behavioral tendencies, you immediately begin to accelerate your leadership potential.

Choose your track.

1. High-Touch Track*

• Korn/Ferry Voices 360° Feedback
• 1:1 Executive Coaching (4 sessions)
• Individual Development Planning

Get insight into how others perceive you as a leader through 360° feedback. Your Executive Coach will work with you one-on-one to build your own unique, actionable development plan.

*Limited availability

2. Self-Guided Track*

• Group Executive Coaching
• Group Sessions
• Individual Development Planning

Work with your peers, an Executive Coach and the LDP staff to determine your areas of focus and develop an action plan to work on those target areas. Throughout the year, you and your peer group will support, challenge and hold each other accountable for your development plan.

*Limited availability

3. A La Carte

• Leadership Gap Analysis
• Hogan 1:1 Coaching
• Launch to Internship

Create your own "LDP lite" experience. For most activities, no commitment is required and you can come and go as you like.

All tracks have access to Inside the C-Suite events, Leadership & Recruiting Panel and Skillbuilders

Summer Internship

Tell your story.

LDP gives you a competitive edge during interviews for summer internships. You'll have a compelling personal story to tell of improved self-awareness, the actions you've taken toward your goals and the potential you have unlocked. And the internship offers an opportunity to take what you've learned about yourself into practice.

Year Two

In your second year, regardless of your LDP track or participation in Year One, you can choose to build your abilities even further. Choose from a selection of challenging leadership experiences and resources to master the skills in your personal development plan or just challenge your thinking.

• Experiential Workshops
• Alumni Leadership Exchanges
• Small Peer Group Discussions
• Hogan 1:1 Exit Consultation
• First 90 Days Workshop
• Inside the C-Suite Events

Apply what you learned.

Take your skills and development plan into your new full-time career and beyond. You will be more agile and flexible in the constantly changing business environment—a critical factor in long-term leader success.

Contact Us
If you would like to learn more, please contact us:

Melinda Allen
Executive Director
Leadership Development Programs
Melinda.Allen@owen.vanderbilt.edu
615.343.7191