Yale School of Management - Leadership Development Program

Yale University has a long history of producing leaders attuned to the global ramifications of their actions and devoted to improving society at large. The Yale SOM Leadership Development Program is a comprehensive two-year program that pushes students to set and achieve ambitious goals for their own advancement as leaders.

Through extensive practical experience, coursework, and practice giving and receiving feedback, students develop leadership skills on four levels:

1) Individual Level
examples: Values and leadership commitments, knowledge of personal strengths and weaknesses

2) Interpersonal/Team Level
examples: Giving/receiving feedback, emotional intelligence, communication, diversity

3) Organizational Level
examples: Developing and implementing vision and strategy, organizational design and organizational culture

4) Global Level
examples: Building and sustaining community, ethics, social responsibility and accountability, cultural awareness

How It Works
In their first weeks on campus, students receive instruction on the fundamentals of leadership, while also investigating and articulating their own priorities and values. Over the course of the year, classes, speaker programs, and other experiences help build advanced leadership skills.

In the second semester, students formulate a plan for their own leadership development, which includes a significant leadership practicum that they will execute in their second year. These practicum projects may take the form of club leadership, creating a new event or program for the school, engaging in community service, or launching a business. Throughout the first year, LDP work is tightly integrated with the core curriculum, and discussions in the LDP will help students reflect on the leadership questions raised in core courses.

The second year of the LDP is largely practice oriented and self-directed. Students execute their leadership practicum plan while receiving professional coaching and continuing peer feedback.

The LDP is customized to each student’s interests and needs. In the process of developing their individual leadership plans, students create 360-degree leadership assessments that are customized to their needs. This unique assessment tool is being developed exclusively for the Yale SOM LDP.

Throughout the course of the LDP, students have the opportunity to develop interpersonal skills by working in teams, practicing giving and receiving feedback, and coaching other students.

The program is also tightly integrated with various facets of the Yale SOM experience, including the curriculum, community and culture, student club activities, other school programs, and engagement with the broader university.

The LDP is being designed and run by Brigadier General (Retired) Tom Kolditz, the former head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.