Stanford’s new curriculum will help students develop into leaders, according to Evelyn Williams, Director of Stanford’s Center for Leadership Development and Research Leadership, in the WSJ.com. The interview with Ms. Williams explores whether leadership is actually a teachable skill and how Stanford plans to develop leadership in MBA students.

Ms. Williams acknolwedges that leadership is a combination of both nature and nurture. But while some people seem to have a natural gift to be leaders, everyone can develop leadership skills. She views leadership as an art which must be taught differently than “hard” skills like accounting and finance. Ms. Williams says that students will be given opportunities to reflect and develop self-awareness in order to “develop their personal leadership style.”

With the new curriculum at Stanford, students “will go through a number of self-assessments to measure their progress in becoming more effective leaders, and they’ll be mentored by second-year MBA ‘leadership fellows’, faculty advisers, leadership coaches, and alumni.” Ms. Williams adds that students will take part in lab simulations that are more realistic than case studies, including exercises with trained second-year students who “will get unruly and give negative feedback if students don’t handle the situation well.” Students will also interact with corporate executives and address situations around balancing work-life stress.

Of course, Stanford is not the only school emphasizing leadership development, as just about every MBA program is trying to address leadership. For example, Kellogg will be hosting a “Seasons of Leadership” conference this fall, and Tuck has a leadership forum. Be sure to check on your schools of interest and consider how you could become involved in their leadership programs. They would love to hear your thoughts in your application.

Last week there was an article published in BusinessWeek that discussed some of the concerns surrounding MBA Admissions Consultants. Although Stacy Blackman Consulting was referenced in the article, I hesitated to draw attention to it because I felt that my quotations were out of context and did not convey what I really wanted to say about the industry and my company.

After some thought, I thought I would share with you, through this blog, what I really want to say about what we do. To help explain the role we play, I draw a comparison to the business schools themselves. An important issue that should be considered when you apply to business school is the career center. The career center is a great asset for a top school and the career centers play an important role in most MBA experiences. What does a career center do? Mock interviews, interview coaching, resume review, help with career selection and target companies, assistance with company research, strategy and messaging. The career centers help an MBA applying for a job package him or herself. This is very similar to what we do for our clients. We do not draft essays or resumes from scratch, we do not sit in on interviews for them, we do not cross that ethical line. We act as a coach, helping our clients in the same way that college counselors, career counselors, athletic coaches, executive coaches, writing coaches and many more…do for their clients.

Our goal is not in any way to “trick” an admissions committee. The stories are all true, the numbers are legitimate. However, we do have some clients whose numbers or background may make them appear to be a “stretch” on the surface. Of course we do. If all of our clients were obvious admits, we would not be adding much value. We work with these clients, who are fantastic, interesting, hard working and ambitious people, to achieve their dreams. This may be in spite of less than perfect credentials. Nonetheless, I feel that our clients, who have earned seats at top programs, deserve these seats and are valued contributors to their respective programs. In no way do I feel that I have “pulled one over” on the admissions committees, or convinced them to “admit an impostor”. In contrast, I feel that we have served the schools by helping them to find the applicants that are truly a good fit for their programs.

Many of our clients were previously relying on misinformation they found online or through the rumor mill. They are competing against individuals who work at larger companies that have programs in place to help with the application process. Admissions representatives and companies like Stacy Blackman Consulting will visit companies and provide information to employees and alums will help with essay review; there is a lot of assistance in place. In this situation, the ability to work with an independent firm can level the playing field.

Admittedly, as with any industry, there are some services out there that may cross an ethical line, and help too much, crafting essays from scratch. This is why I am so excited about the formation of AIGAC, which I am joining, as it will help to establish and reinforce standards for our rapidly growing industry. The industry is growing because it meets a need, and we remain proud to ethically and responsibly meet this need for a great group of clients from all around the world!

Last week, we looked at the Colubmia accelerated MBA program. Today we’re featuring the Kellogg one year MBA program.

While the Columbia accelerated MBA has no eligibility requirements, the Kellogg program is designed for students who completed an undergraduate business degree. However, the admissions committee will review applicants on a case-by-case basis. Students in the one year program will begin at Kellogg in June and take coursework the complements their undergraduate business studies. Then they join the second year class from the traditional Kellogg two year program. Kellogg emphasizes the flexibility of this program and says it is “designed to enable applicants with clear and consistent career goals to return to the work force quickly.”

The admissions deadlines for the Kellogg one year program are the same as the two year program, but the admissions committe requests one year candidates apply by the second deadline.

BusinessWeek.com will host a live chat with Deirdre Leopold, executive director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at HBS on Tuesday, May 29 at 1pm EDT. It will be a great opportunity to learn more about the admissions process as well as life at HBS.

If you can’t make the event, they will post the transcript afterwards. Also, you can send email questions in advance to the host Francesca Di Meglio (Francesca_DiMeglio@businessweek.com). Please visit the BusinessWeek.com for more details.