In Australia, only 22.3% of all CEOs are women1, and in STEM industries, only 8% are women2. Women are underrepresented in all leadership positions in all industries3.
Thankfully, we have Meegan Sullivan, President of Asia Pacific Region for Tetra Tech, blazing a pathway for us, reaching out behind her to support those building their careers and showing us that yes, it is possible.
Tetra Tech is a global provider of high-end consulting and engineering services, with 27,000 employees world-wide. In 2022, Tetra Tech acquired RPS, a professional services firm that Meegan led as CEO of the Australasian business. She had been the Australasian CEO of RPS since late 2021, and so her time was marked with both the challenges of new hybrid work following the height of COVID, and the tricky, sensitive process of corporate acquisitions.
Within a year of the acquisition being formalised, Meegan was promoted to President of Asia Pacific Region, which includes other Tetra Tech’s subsidiaries in this region.
“Congratulations on your promotion!” I say as we sit down for a coffee to chat about this article. “It’s so well-deserved.”
“Thank you,” she chuckles, shaking her head. “But it’s not just a vote of confidence in me, but in all of RPS. I couldn’t have done it without the team around me.”
And there, right then, was the first leadership lesson of the day.
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Meegan’s career story is one of embracing the challenges of leadership and letting impact and influence be a driving force behind career decisions.
I can’t help but imagine that CEOs must have always aimed to be CEOs. But Meegan is driven by impact, not role title. During high school, she was motivated by the subjects she enjoyed, and inspired by her history teacher, wanted to teach modern history. She was also interested in politics, decision-making and planning, and so she chose to study town planning at the University of NSW. Following her studies, she joined Sydney Water as a Senior Policy Officer in the Development Coordination Unit, which coordinated the servicing proposals for major urban renewal and development proposals. It was this work in Sydney Water that showed her the direct positive difference that public infrastructure made for the public, and where planning and infrastructure could go hand-in-hand. She has since gathered over 25 years’ experience in consulting across the Australian infrastructure sector, with expertise in the complex process of planning and approvals for large-scale water, transport, energy, and social infrastructure programs.
Her early career was focused on project delivery, and with a can-do attitude, Meegan built a reputation for ‘mucking in’ and getting things done. She still carries this reputation now.
This, she shares with me, started from her childhood surrounded by “formidable women” – her two grandmothers, mother and sister – who taught her how to just get on with it. This served Meegan well in the first decade of her career, where this attitude was noticed by people in more senior positions. Opportunities started to flow from the successes in her project work. After several years, the shape of her career started to evolve into something closer to government agency organisational reform, closer to policy and politics than she deemed right for her. “I wanted to return to the purity of planning and strategy in infrastructure.” She said, “My work at Sydney Water had shown me that I cared about the impact I could have working in infrastructure.” This bent towards impact for the greater good became a filter for how she chose opportunities. “But you also have to learn what to say no to.”
Meegan returned to infrastructure planning with a small, growing consultancy called Manidis Roberts. This company operated across Sydney and Brisbane, and she led a communications team of around 50 staff in these offices. Then, an opportunity came to open a new office in Melbourne, and build it from the ground up.
“What was it about that opportunity that made you say yes?” I ask.
“It was time for me to own something. Up until that point, I was known as a great second to a leader. Opening our Melbourne office was the opportunity to develop and implement a market entry strategy, which I loved.”
Looking on from the outside, it’s clear to me that Meegan has been a leader her whole life. She’s driven by impact and values, she empowers others, and she gets stuff done. But I had a question, and it was out of my mouth before I could think twice. I’ve had this conversation so many times with emerging leaders, and so I wondered if an established leader – a CEO no less – ever feels the same as us.
“Do you ever struggle to see yourself as a leader”?
Her answer was just as quick. “Oh, absolutely.” She went on to share with me the moments of doubt, but also the moments of confidence and joy in the work. “At the end of the day, it’s about living to your values and to your ethics.” She said. “We all have doubts.”
As someone with aspirations for senior leadership positions in the future, with the ideals to help contribute to positive change, I felt like everything we were talking about was directly helpful to me and my own career development. I started to feel a bit selfish, remembering that our chat was all about writing this article for you, my dear reader, and not for me.
“What advice would you give emerging leaders?”
“Have patience. Our careers are long, and you don’t have to rush through it. Take your time.”
I nodded, seeing the same thing when I talk to university students who are paralysed by the choices of opportunities ahead of them.
“And also, back your decisions. Healthy ego does exist, so find the right balance between your ego and humility. It’s possible to over-correct one way or the other, as well. We talked about self-doubt – women in particular, I think, need to learn how to quieten the inner-critic.”
A self-proclaimed perfectionist, Meegan regaled moments of catching her own perfectionism. Perfectionism can seriously hinder the effectiveness of leaders, and it is a habit she is always learning to balance. “I hate incorrect capitalisation in reports. But I learned pretty quickly that I couldn’t obsess over that kind of thing.” I laughed out loud at Meegan’s description of her hatred over errant capital letters.
“I had to learn to let it go to my team. I do believe that laziness is the enemy of competency, but perfection is the enemy of leadership.”
It’s worth noting that Meegan isn’t an engineer and does not have a technical background, which is not common for executive leaders in the infrastructure and engineering industry. Encouraging people to see the vital role of non-technical roles within infrastructure delivery is important to Meegan, and a part of what she feels is her role as a leader. So, I had one last question for Meegan before we wrapped up our conversation.
“What legacy do you want to leave?”
She chuckled again. “Well, it’s not really up to me to decide that.” She paused, considering her response. “I do take very seriously my role as a leader and to support leaders coming up. I also don’t feel like my work is done yet blazing a trail for communications specialists and other non-technical skillsets and their role in infrastructure.
“In terms of ‘legacy’ – that’s not something you can control. But you can control the work you do, how much you put into it, and what you focus on.”
If there is a leader who can inspire through her balance of humility and confidence, it’s Meegan Sullivan.
Sources –
- “National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality in Leadership.” Australian Government, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Accessed from: https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/national-strategy-achieve-gender-equality-discussion-paper/current-state/leadership ↩︎
- STEM Equity Monitor Data Report, Australian Government, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Accessed from https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/stem-equity-monitor ↩︎
- “Women in Leadership”, Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Accessed from https://www.wgea.gov.au/women-in-leadership ↩︎