Program pioneers | What can sports teach us about program leadership?

Gareth Heatley, head of growth and delivery, global program management at Jacobs, has spent more than three decades shaping and delivering some of the world's most complex infrastructure programs. 

A chartered civil engineer, his experience spans major urban developments, transportation networks, water, industrial cities and large-scale infrastructure programs across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Today, he works with clients and teams globally to strengthen program delivery capability, build lasting partnerships and create stakeholder alignment that translates ambitious visions into outcomes. 

But ask Gareth what matters most and he rarely starts with projects or programs. He talks about people. 

Why the best programs start with people 

Gareth believes that the foundation for success is laid early in the program when teams understand what they are trying to achieve. 

Over three decades in infrastructure, he has seen programs succeed for many reasons and fail for even more. Yet the same patterns appear repeatedly: clear purpose, strong leadership, the right people and an environment where decisions can be made at the right level. Collaborative leadership creates the conditions for all of these to come together. 

For Gareth, program leadership resembles team sports and looks less like command-and-control management than people might expect. 

Signature programs across regions 

• Giga-city program (Saudi Arabia) 
• Thames Tideway Tunnel (U.K.) 
• Major urban redevelopment program (India) 
• Rail infrastructure programs (Australia) 
• Flood risk management programs (U.K. and Europe) 

As a Program Pioneer, Gareth focuses on one principle above all: alignment. 

Programs bring together hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people, each contributing to a broader outcome. Programs should deliver more than assets — they have the potential to create economic growth, social value, improved mobility, regeneration and long-term community benefit. 

In Gareth's experience, achieving those outcomes depends on creating alignment from the very beginning. Teams need a clear purpose. Effective program governance needs to support decision-making. Leaders need to establish the right culture. Without those foundations, even technically strong programs can struggle. 

Ask Gareth 

What lessons from Rugby Union have influenced your approach to program leadership?

I’ve always seen strong parallels between rugby and program leadership. 

Players with different strengths come together around a shared objective. Success depends on commitment and a willingness to work with each other. 

The same is true for program delivery. 

You can assemble highly capable individuals, but unless they understand the goal and are aligned around it, performance will suffer. The strongest teams are often those that combine diverse skills with a clear collective purpose. 

Collaborative leadership plays an important role in setting that direction. The behaviors leaders demonstrate are often the behaviors teams adopt. 

What’s the earliest sign that a program is heading in the right direction? 

For me, it comes down to clarity of purpose. 

The strongest programs spend time making sure people understand what they are trying to achieve and why it matters. When that happens, decision-making becomes easier because everyone is working toward the same objective. 

There’s a well-known story about a janitor sweeping the floor at a NASA facility who was asked by President Kennedy who was touring the building what he did. His response was, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.” 

The most successful programs create that level of understanding. People know where the program is heading and how their work contributes to delivering the intended outcomes. 

What has been one of the biggest lessons from delivering major international programs? 

Never underestimate the importance of mobilization. 

On some of the programs I’ve worked on, particularly fast-moving developments, there has been enormous pressure to start delivering straight away. 

Everyone wants progress. Everyone wants momentum. 

On large programs, scaling a team can be a challenge. It’s about more than numbers — building high-performing teams is about finding people with the right experience and getting them into the right roles at the right time. 

Successful delivery still depends on creating the foundations that allow teams to perform effectively. 

Planning for that begins long before a contract is awarded. 

What’s the biggest misconception about program governance? 

On any program, thousands of decisions need to be made. If everything has to move through the same level of leadership, delivery slows down very quickly. 

My view has always been that decisions should be delegated to the appropriate level. 

You need clear roles. You need people to understand what they are responsible for. You need good oversight. But you also need trust. Without the right leadership culture, even the strongest governance structures can become barriers rather than enablers. 

People learn and develop when they’re allowed to make decisions. 

An important part of leadership is enabling people to take ownership while ensuring the appropriate guardrails are in place to ensure that the program remains on track. 

How has program delivery evolved over the last fifteen years? 

The fundamentals haven’t changed as much as people might think. 

Programs still need a clear vision. They still need collaborative leadership. They still need people who understand what they are trying to achieve. 

What has changed is the environment around them. 

Programs today operate under greater scrutiny. Stakeholder expectations are higher. The pace of communication is much faster. Funding models are often more complex. Regulatory requirements continue to evolve. 

What I see is layer upon layer of additional complexity being added to the delivery environment. 

The principles remain largely the same. The challenge is applying them in a world that moves much faster than it once did.