Lead With Essan

Lead With Essan PM Leadership Coach helping aspiring & current Project Managers lead with clarity, confidence & impact.

PM Templates: https://www.tldprojectcoaching.com/category/project-templates-frameworks

📅 Book a free coaching call → tldprojectcoaching.com

24/09/2026

One of the earliest signs of project misalignment is surprisingly simple: ask different people what the priority is and listen to their answers.

If the answers are different, don’t assume people are just communicating badly. Find out why.

As a Project Manager, check:

* What are we actually trying to achieve?
* What is the priority right now — and has it changed?
* Which deliverables are critical to the outcome?
* What has been deprioritised?
* Who made the decision, and has it been communicated consistently?

Then test the understanding across the team. Don’t just send another project update and assume everyone is aligned.

Misalignment can quickly turn into competing priorities, duplicated work, delayed decisions and missed deadlines.

A strong PM doesn’t just communicate the priority. They check that people have understood it in the same way.

20/09/2026

I kept losing track of my studies— which topics I'd revised, how my mock scores were trending, whether I was actually ready to book.

So I built a planner that keeps it in one place: a dashboard, 30/60/90-day study plans, a mock tracker and a readiness score. There's a CAPM version and a PMP version, the latter built for the 2026 exam content outline and PMBOK 8.

Happy to share the link if it's useful — just say and I'll drop it below.

20/09/2026

Sitting the PMP or CAPM? Stop tracking your study across six different places.

This planner keeps it all in one sheet — a live dashboard, 30/60/90-day study plans, a mock exam tracker, and a readiness score that tells you honestly whether you're ready to book.

Built for the 2026 PMP exam (new PMI ECO and PMBOK 8) and for the CAPM. Works in Excel or Google Sheets, and comes with a filled example so you can see exactly how it should look.

Link in the comments 👇

15/09/2026

Master Stakeholder Management: 4 Questions Every Project Manager Must Ask

Are your project updates putting your stakeholders to sleep? 😴

Or worse, failing to get the decisions you actually need?

It is time to shift from simply informing to actively influencing.

Anyone can read a status report.

But standout project professionals and leaders know that executive meetings and SteerCos aren't for reading data—they are for driving action.

Before you step into your next senior stakeholder discussion, structure your communication around these four critical prompts:

1. What has changed?

2. What matters to them?

3. What decision is needed?

4. What action do I need?

Remember: Good communication informs. Great communication moves the project forward.

Save this post for your next big meeting, and tag a fellow project professional who needs to see this!




14/09/2026

The Warning Sign Your Project May Be Drifting 🚩

A project can be on track in the reports but drifting in reality.

As a Project Manager, check whether your team can clearly explain:

1. The project outcome.
2. The priorities that matter most.
3. How success will be measured.
4. Who is responsible for delivery.

If the answers don’t match, you may have a project alignment issue.

The solution? Revisit your project objectives, clarify ownership and realign stakeholders before delivery is affected.

Strong Project Management starts with clarity, not just progress reporting.

Save this checklist for your next project review.

09/09/2026

Project management interviews aren’t won by reciting frameworks, they’re won by showing how you think, lead and deliver under pressure.

Here’s how to stand out:

1️⃣ Show how you think, not just what you know
Walk through your decision-making, trade-offs and priorities — especially when things didn’t go to plan.

2️⃣ Anchor answers in real delivery experience
Use clear examples: the objective, the constraints, the decisions you made, and the outcome and learning. Avoid theory-only responses.

3️⃣ Demonstrate stakeholder awareness
Speak to how you managed expectations, handled resistance and kept alignment when priorities shifted.

4️⃣ Be clear on your role
“I was part of the team” isn’t enough. Be specific about your accountability, authority and influence.

5️⃣ Talk risk before you’re asked
Explain how you identified, mitigated and communicated risk — not just how you reacted.

6️⃣ Ask thoughtful questions
Good questions show leadership: How are priorities decided under pressure? What does success look like in the first 6 months? Where do projects typically struggle?

It’s not just about getting the interview. It’s about showing them you can do the job.

08/09/2026

Preparing for a Project Management interview takes more than good intentions.

This kit gives you a structured way to practise: 90 interview questions across junior, mid, and senior/programme levels, a library of 16 worked STAR answers built from real delivery experience, a story builder worksheet, an interview playbook with a prep checklist, a salary negotiation guide, and CV and LinkedIn checklists.

Using a ready-made template means your time goes into practising and building confidence, not building a spreadsheet from scratch. Each question is mapped to a competency and a level, so you always know what to prepare and why it matters to interviewers.

Instant download. Works in Excel, Google Sheets, and any PDF reader.

Prepare properly. Walk in ready.

08/09/2026

Authority isn’t given. It’s earned through consistency.

A job title gives you responsibility. It doesn’t automatically give you influence.

Real authority comes from what people experience from you, over and over:

✔ You follow through on commitments
✔ You communicate when things change
✔ You make decisions and stand behind them
✔ You raise concerns early
✔ You hold yourself and others accountable
✔ You stay composed when things get hard

That’s what builds trust. And trust is what makes people listen, whether or not you manage them directly.

What behaviour builds the most authority for you as a project leader? Tell us below.

07/09/2026

When the Project Plan Fails: The True Test of Project Leadership

It’s easy to manage a project when every milestone is hit and the baseline holds. But your true capabilities as a project professional are proven the moment the plan falls apart.

When deadlines unexpectedly shift, stakeholders push back on key requirements, or your team feels the heavy weight of project pressure—that is your moment to step up. Exceptional project leadership is about your ability to transform the chaos into a clear path forward, lead your team with unwavering confidence, and deliver impactful results even when critical decisions are delayed.

What is your go-to strategy to regain control when a project starts going off track? Let's discuss below!

06/09/2026

The PMP exam changed on 9 July 2026 — new domains, new weightings, and a whole new PMBOK edition. If your prep material still says “10 Knowledge Areas,” it’s already out of date.

I built the PMP Complete Study Bundle to fix that. It’s everything you need to plan your study, revise every domain, and walk in ready:

✅ A live Study Planner & Exam Tracker (Excel + Google Sheets) — auto dashboard, mock exam tracker, exam-readiness score
✅ A 6-page Cheat Sheet covering the 2026 domains, PMBOK 8 and agile essentials
✅ A 2-page Study Guide with a final-two-weeks checklist
✅ A 1-page Formula Quick Card — every formula, one page

Built for the current exam: People 33% · Process 41% · Business Environment 26%, PMBOK 8’s 6 principles and 7 performance domains, and the ~60% agile/hybrid emphasis most guides still miss.

Whether you’re two months out or two weeks out, this gives you a clear system instead of a pile of scattered notes.

See link in the comments to get your copy.

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