Practitioner Project Leadership Programme

Leadership in Action (Project Leadership)

Strengthen the judgement, influence and leadership behaviour required to mobilise people and deliver through uncertainty.

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Course overview

Move from managing project activity to leading people, choices and outcomes.

Projects depend on people who do not always report to the project manager, agree on priorities or interpret success in the same way. Technical competence is necessary, but it is not sufficient to build commitment, handle conflict, sustain trust and maintain direction.

Leadership in Action develops the practical leadership behaviour required to guide project teams, influence stakeholders, make sound decisions and respond constructively when pressure, ambiguity or resistance increases.

Participants work through realistic leadership situations, receive feedback and build a personal approach that can be applied immediately within project, programme and cross-functional environments.

Learning outcomes

What participants will be able to do.

By the end of the course, participants should be able to:

  • Explain the difference between project management authority and project leadership influence.
  • Assess personal leadership strengths, habits, risks and development priorities.
  • Adapt leadership behaviour to the needs of the situation, team and project environment.
  • Communicate purpose, priorities, expectations and difficult messages with clarity and credibility.
  • Influence stakeholders and team members without relying solely on formal authority.
  • Build psychological safety, trust, accountability and constructive challenge within project teams.
  • Diagnose conflict and choose appropriate approaches for resolution, negotiation or escalation.
  • Coach individuals, provide useful feedback and support performance improvement.
  • Make and communicate balanced decisions under pressure and uncertainty.
  • Create a practical personal leadership agenda for immediate workplace application.

Who should attend

Designed for professionals who must lead through collaboration rather than positional authority alone.

  • Project and programme managers.
  • Project coordinators moving into leadership roles.
  • Work-package and functional team leaders.
  • PMO and project-controls professionals with cross-functional responsibilities.
  • Technical specialists leading multidisciplinary work.
  • Managers preparing for broader project or programme leadership.

Prerequisites

Accessible, practical and professionally relevant.

  • Some experience of project or team-based work is recommended.
  • No formal leadership qualification is required.
  • Participants should be prepared to reflect on their own leadership behaviour.
  • The programme includes discussion, feedback, role practice and applied leadership simulations.

Course structure

Five integrated modules from leadership foundation to team performance, influence and sustained application.

The programme combines reflection, facilitated practice and demanding project scenarios so that participants can test and refine their leadership approach.

1

Module 1

Project leadership foundations and self-awareness

  • Management, leadership and project context.
  • Leadership credibility, purpose and values.
  • Personal leadership patterns and impact.
  • Emotional intelligence and self-regulation.
  • Creating a focused personal leadership baseline.
2

Module 2

Communication, influence and leadership presence

  • Communicating purpose, expectations and priorities.
  • Influence without authority.
  • Listening, questioning and sense-making.
  • Leadership presence in meetings and decision forums.
  • Adapting communication to stakeholders and situations.
3

Module 3

Building and leading effective project teams

  • Team formation, norms and working agreements.
  • Trust, psychological safety and accountability.
  • Motivation, inclusion and individual differences.
  • Delegation, empowerment and clear ownership.
  • Leading dispersed, hybrid and cross-functional teams.
4

Module 4

Conflict, coaching and difficult conversations

  • Sources and patterns of project conflict.
  • Conflict styles and intervention choices.
  • Difficult conversations and constructive challenge.
  • Coaching, feedback and performance improvement.
  • Escalation, mediation and restoring working relationships.
5

Module 5

Decision-making, resilience and leadership application

  • Leadership judgement under uncertainty and pressure.
  • Balancing speed, evidence, inclusion and accountability.
  • Resilience, recovery and sustainable performance.
  • Leadership lessons from project setbacks and change.
  • Integrated simulation and 90-day leadership action plan.

Learning experience

Apply ideas—not simply remember terminology.

Participants learn through reflection, practice, feedback and realistic project-leadership situations.

Reflect

Leadership self-assessment

Participants identify strengths, habits, risks and development priorities that affect their leadership impact.

Communicate

Leadership-message practice

Participants practise communicating direction, expectations, decisions and difficult messages with clarity.

Influence

Stakeholder and team scenarios

Teams test approaches for influencing colleagues, sponsors and specialists without formal authority.

Resolve

Conflict and conversation laboratory

Participants handle disagreement, underperformance, resistance and relationship strain through structured practice.

Coach

Feedback and development practice

Participants use coaching questions and balanced feedback to strengthen ownership and performance.

Apply

Integrated leadership simulation

A final project scenario requires participants to align, decide, influence and lead under pressure.

Course completion

Demonstrate participation, application and professional judgement.

  • Participate actively in leadership discussions, practice sessions and simulations.
  • Complete the leadership self-assessment and principal course exercises.
  • Contribute to the final integrated project-leadership simulation.
  • Prepare a practical 90-day personal leadership action plan.

Participant outputs

Typical course outputs include:

  • Personal leadership baseline.
  • Stakeholder influence approach.
  • Team working agreement.
  • Difficult-conversation plan.
  • Coaching and feedback framework.
  • Leadership decision checklist.
  • Ninety-day personal leadership action plan.

Delivery options

Choose the format that fits your people and business requirements.

Instructor-led

Live Classroom

Face-to-face delivery with facilitated practice, role simulations, peer feedback and applied leadership exercises.

Instructor-led

Live Virtual Classroom

Interactive online delivery using breakout simulations, coaching practice and real-time facilitated feedback.

Flexible

Blended Learning

A structured combination of preparation, live workshops, reflection assignments and follow-up application.

Organisation-specific

Corporate and In-Company

Tailored delivery aligned with organisational leadership expectations, project challenges and development priorities.

Frequently asked questions

Course information and participation.

Is this course only for experienced project managers?

No. It is suitable for developing project leaders as well as experienced managers who want to strengthen their practical leadership behaviour.

How is this different from a general leadership course?

The programme is grounded in project realities such as temporary teams, matrix authority, stakeholder tension, uncertainty, escalation and delivery pressure.

Does the course include personal feedback?

Yes. Participants receive structured feedback through exercises, role practice, peer review and facilitated discussion.

Can the programme be tailored for our managers?

Yes. Corporate delivery can use the organisation’s leadership model, project environment, values and anonymised leadership situations.

Does completion provide a professional certification?

The course develops practical project-leadership capability and may provide an INDENTRA completion record where applicable. It is not presented as a third-party professional certification unless separately stated.

Take the next step

Lead project teams with greater clarity, confidence and impact.

Discuss public delivery, a leadership cohort or a tailored programme aligned with your organisation’s project-leadership priorities.

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INDENTRA may adapt sequencing, exercises and examples to suit the delivery format and participant profile while preserving the stated learning outcomes.