Strategic PM isn’t optional. It’s the job.

When I first stepped into a formal project management role, I was already coming from a strategic seat. I had been an account director at a small agency, actively shaping client messaging, working on branding and capital campaigns, and making decisions that impacted outcomes. There was no project manager. I did it all. I loved being close to the work and the people while managing the process and the never-ending roadblocks. I loved thinking strategically.

So when I moved into my first official project management role, I figured I’d still get to use those skills. I figured I'd be doing the same stuff, just with a new title. What I didn’t expect was how limited the PM role could actually was. Suddenly, I was behind the curtain, managing logistics, timelines, and budgets... but completely cut off from the very strategy I used to help shape. Let alone the critical conversations that shape scope, timelines, and help to set expectations with demanding clients.

That disconnect didn’t sit right with me. So I pushed. I fought for a seat in client meetings, started asking bigger questions, and worked hard to earn trust, not just from my team, but from clients too. I showed that agency what a truly strategic project manager can do. But I didn’t fit their mold. And honestly, the fight for real collaboration started to feel like a losing game.

Eventually, I moved on to an agency that didn’t just allow me to use my complete skillset, but wanted me to. Strategy wasn’t something I had to sneak in. It was part of the job.

That’s why it still stings when I see people misunderstand the role of a project manager—or worse, minimize it entirely. I still see job descriptions that read like glorified schedulers. I still see org charts where PMs are buried under layers of decision-makers. And I still hear people say things like, “We just need someone to keep this on track.”

To which I say:

Project management isn’t about keeping things on track. It’s about figuring out what the hell the track even is.

Because without clarity, alignment, and purpose, there is no track.
There’s just a calendar full of status meetings and a team pretending to understand the goal.

Strategic thinking is part of the PM job

Over the years, my perspective on strategy has evolved. I used to talk a lot about account management strategy—about the importance of client rapport, empathy, and being the person they trust. (That still matters. I even wrote about it here.)

But this is different.

What I’m talking about now is PM strategy.
The kind that focuses on how work happens.
The systems and decisions that shape scope, process, team communication, risk management, and delivery.

It’s not about replacing account managers. It’s about redefining the PM role as a partner in progress—someone who brings structure and insight, someone who connects vision to execution without getting stuck in a Gantt chart.

Back in 2023, I gave a talk at the Digital PM Summit about this very thing. I called it Strategic PM: Control–Command–Shift Your Perspective. And in it, I asked a question that still applies:

Why aren’t project managers seen as strategic?

Here’s what I said then, and what I still believe now:

• Everything we do is repeatable → so people mistake us for robots
• Strategy is seen as someone else’s job → like a product manager or AM
• We’re judged by margin, not impact → so the value we add goes unseen
• We’re often left out of discovery and decisions → so we’re reactive by design
• The team dictates the process → so we’re stuck enforcing, not evolving

It’s time to move past that.

The future of PM is about intention, not instruction.

Strategic project management is real. It’s powerful. And it’s needed more than ever.

In a world of increasing complexity, tighter budgets, hybrid teams, and AI-fueled everything, the ability to guide a project with intention and adaptability is a leadership skill, not a logistical one.

We don’t just move work forward. We shape how the work happens, why it matters, and how it delivers value.

If that’s not strategic, I don’t know what is.

TL;DR
Project management isn’t about timelines, it’s about translation.
It’s the connective tissue between people, goals, and execution.
It’s the strategy behind the scenes, making everything else possible.

And if you're still hiring PMs to "just keep things on track," you're missing the entire point.