Why Every Manager Is Already a Project Manager

What if the difference between a struggling team and a high-performing one isn’t more motivation, but stronger project management skills?

In this results-focused episode of Manager to Manager, host Kamaria Scott sits down with Michele Badie, PMP Certified Program Manager, whose career spans legal services, financial services, non-profits, higher education, and retail. Together, they dive into the often-overlooked reality that every people leader—whether officially certified or not—is already a project manager.

Michele shares how project management goes far beyond tools and timelines. It’s about fostering collaboration, building trust, and creating the clarity teams need to succeed. She explains how results and relationships are inseparable, and why successful execution begins with curiosity, communication, and sustained collaboration.

This conversation explores how managers can:

• Recognize the role of project management in everyday leadership—even without the title or certification
  
  
• Balance results with relationships to create psychological safety and open communication
  
  
• Apply simple yet powerful frameworks like RACI and Agile to bring order and adaptability to projects
  
  
• Manage stakeholder expectations with transparency while fostering long-term trust
  
  
• Stay curious, keep learning, and invest in yourself as both a leader and project manager
  
  

From tackling accountability to organizing teams without a formal PMO, Michele and Kamaria highlight practical strategies managers can use to execute with confidence while empowering their people.

Whether you’re leading a small team juggling multiple responsibilities or working inside a complex organization, this episode offers actionable insights for turning project chaos into clarity—and for reminding every manager that execution is just as human as it is technical.

Show Notes:

Follow Michele Badie on [LinkedIn]
Follow Kamaria Scott on LinkedIn | managermomentum.com