// track 05 · 7 lessons · ~35 min
Stakeholders & Comms.
Influence without authority.
The defining PM skill — getting things done when you can't fire anyone. Stakeholder mapping beyond the 2D grid (attitude, salience, influence networks), Cialdini's six principles applied honestly, designing steering committees that actually decide, three executive-comms formats (one-pager, narrative, six-pager), the Patterson framework for difficult conversations, BATNA / ZOPA / anchoring in negotiation, and managing vendors when accountability stays with you.
- 15 min05.01
Stakeholder analysis — beyond the grid
Power, interest, attitude, salience — four lenses, not one.
- 5 min05.02
Influence without authority
The PM's defining skill — getting things done when you can't fire anyone.
- 5 min05.03
Steering committees + governance
The body that says yes — design it so it actually decides.
- 5 min05.04
Executive comms — one-pager, narrative, six-pager
Compress a quarter into a paragraph without lying.
- 5 min05.05
Difficult conversations + delivering bad news
When the project's slipping, the way you say it matters.
- 5 min05.06
Negotiation basics
BATNA, ZOPA, anchoring — the vocabulary you need to negotiate well.
- 5 min05.07
Vendor management
Outsourcing isn't outsourcing accountability.
// canonical reading for this track
Beyond what we wrote.
These are the primary sources our lessons draw from. If you want to go deep on this track, start here.
// put it into practice
Reading is half the work.
The simulator drops you into real PM scenarios so the concepts from these lessons stop being abstract.