Leadership today demands more than experience. The organizations that will thrive are those that develop leaders who can navigate complexity, build resilience, and translate strategy into sustained action.
The gap between leadership expectation and workforce readiness is real. And it's growing.
Mercer's Global Talent Trends 2026 reveals a clear and urgent leadership challenge. In KSA and the UAE, 84% of leaders recognize the need to manage leadership paradoxes, balancing execution with empathy, strategy with delivery and transformation with day-to-day performance. Yet 54% of employees in the same markets worry they lack the skills for future roles.
The Leadership Academy partners with organizations across the GCC and beyond to design and deliver structured, personalized and practical leadership development journeys. Journeys that build capability, strengthen confidence, and deliver measurable results in real business environments.
Organizations do not just need more leaders. They need leaders who can build resilience, develop others, and translate strategies into sustained action.
of leaders in KSA and the UAE recognize the need to manage leadership paradoxes vs. 78% globally
of employees in KSA and the UAE worry they lack the skills for future roles vs. 53% globally
Here is what participants reported after completing a Leadership Academy program:
of the leaders were satisfied by the relevance of the program with their role and their learning needs
of the leaders were satisfied by the engagement and interactivity of the journey
of the leaders were satisfied with the Action Learning Project experience as they have reported learning new technical and behavioral skills
of leaders believe they are comfortable with navigating uncertainty and adapting strategies to effectively lead their team/department through change
of leaders are more comfortable in networking and communicating with more senior stakeholders
These are not perception shifts. They are measurable behavioral changes that show up in how leaders lead, perform, and grow.
In a region defined by youthful societies and bold transformation ambitions, leadership development becomes more than an investment in capability. It becomes a prerequisite for sustained progress.
We partner with organizations to design and deliver structured, personalized and practical leadership development journeys. Every program is built around your business context, your leaders' needs and the outcomes that matter most to your organization.
Every program is precisely designed with leadership development experience that builds capability, strengthens confidence, and delivers measurable results in real business environments.
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There is no single path to leadership excellence. Our programs are designed and tailored to the leader's job level, role, readiness and the specific priorities of your organization.
We have three core offerings, and one integrated approach to building leadership capability that lasts. Every offering can stand alone or be combined into a fully integrated leadership development ecosystem. We design the right combination for your leaders and your organization's needs.
Tailored programs for emerging, mid-level, senior, and C-suite leaders. Each journey builds the capabilities across strategic thinking, talent leadership, enterprise leadership, and transformation readiness, designed around what leaders at each level need most.
What leaders build:
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Strategic thinking and organizational perspective
Authentic leadership and self-awareness
People leadership and team development
Change readiness and transformation capability
Executive presence and stakeholder influence
BEST FOR:
Organizations building leadership pipelines across career stages.
Targeted development journeys helping women leaders build executive presence, influence, networks, confidence and career momentum at the most critical transition points. Designed to address the real barriers and challenges women leaders face at every stage of their career.
What leaders build:
Executive presence and personal brand
Influence and stakeholder management
Professional networks and sponsorship
Career clarity and advancement strategy
Confidence and visibility in senior environments
BEST FOR:
Organizations committed to strengthening women's representation, retention, and advancement in leadership.
Access to more than 20 ICF-Certified coaches across individuals, executives, groups, teams, careers, and well-being coaching. Coaching is integrated into every learning journey to help leaders translate insight into action and lasting behavioral change.
Coaching specialties:
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Executive coaching
(one-on-one)
Team and group
coaching
Career
coaching
Well-being
coaching
Presence, influence and communication coaching
BEST FOR:
Organizations seeking to accelerate individual and team leadership capability through personalized, and certified coaching support.
Five reasons the world's most ambitious organizations choose The Leadership Academy.
Great leadership development is not just about content. It is about how it is designed, delivered, measured, and sustained. Here is what makes our approach genuinely different.
Your next generation of leaders is already in your organization.
The question is not whether you need better leaders. The question is how quickly you can build them.
Every organization we partner with starts with a conversation. A conversation about where your leaders are today, where your business needs them to be and what it will take to close that gap. That conversation costs nothing. The capability we build together is invaluable.
Great leadership development is not a single event. It is a continuous, structured, and personalized experience that combines learning, application, reflection, and sustained practice. Everything we do flows through three interconnected strategic vectors, each designed to reinforce and amplify the others.
High-impact development programs at every career stage. Each journey is designed around the leader's level, role, readiness, and the specific priorities of their organization. From emerging leaders building foundational capability to senior executives redesigning organizations, every journey is structured, personalized, and outcome focused.
What leaders report after completing a Leadership Academy program:
Leaders who are more capable, more confident and more ready to lead during rapid change and uncertainty at this level, and the next level.
See examples of journeys across three leadership levels. Each have unique needs that must be addressed through targeted learning paths.
Coaching is not an add-on to our programs. It is the mechanism that transforms insight into action and learning into lasting behavioral change. With more than 20 ICF-certified coaches across multiple specialties, we integrate coaching at every stage of the leadership journey to help leaders accelerate their growth, overcome their blockers, and sustain their progress.
What this looks like in practice:
Leaders who translate what they learn into how they lead. Every day.
Learning does not stop when the workshop ends. Our digital learning ecosystem extends development beyond the classroom, embedding leadership capability into daily practice through immersive, accessible and engaging digital experiences. Designed for busy leaders who need flexibility without sacrificing depth.
What this looks like in practice:
Leaders who are more capable, more confident and more ready to lead during rapid change and uncertainty at this level, and the next level.
Every program we design is built around one question. Did it actually change how leaders lead? Not just what they know. Not just how they feel. But how they show up, perform and grow in their organizations. Here is what the data shows.
What leaders report after completing a Leadership Academy program:
100% of participants are aware of their strengths and areas of development, from 68% at the start of the program
94% are comfortable disclosing their genuine self at work, from 68% at the start of the program
100% feel they have the knowledge and skills to develop their career, from 53% at the start of the program
The numbers that matter to your organization.
The impact of great leadership development extends beyond the individual. It helps move the organization forward.
Meet some of the team members behind the programs.
Every coaching engagement starts with understanding your leaders' specific needs, challenges and development priorities. Our trainers are not just facilitators. They are experienced leaders, organizational psychologists, certified professionals and subject matter experts who bring real-world perspectives to every engagement. With more than 20 ICF-certified coaches and a portfolio of trainers across the GCC and beyond, we have the depth, diversity and specialization to match your leaders with the trainers and coaches best positioned to help them grow, based on specialty, experience, sector knowledge, objectives, and personal fit.
Mohamed Hamza
Head of Mercer Leadership Academy
Reine Ramadan
Managing Consultant
Marijke Kershaw
Managing Consultant
Layan Abu Aysha
Senior Consultant
From national energy giants to global aviation leaders, we have partnered with some of the region's most ambitious organizations that refuse to compromise on leadership quality. Each partnership is built on a shared belief: that great leaders are the foundation of great organizations.
Every sector has unique leadership challenges. We bring specialized knowledge and proven approaches to each one. Our expertise spans organizations across energy, aviation, technology, financial services, healthcare, and government. We bring sectoral knowledge combined with Mercer's global leadership development capability to every partnership.
Grounded in world-class research and academic excellence.
In collaboration with INSEAD and University of Cambridge, we bring world-class faculty expertise, cutting-edge research and global best practices into every leadership program.
These partnerships ensure that every program we design is grounded in the latest research, best practices and global leadership thinking, delivered with the regional expertise and organizational insight that makes it actionable.
Insights that inform better leadership.
We do not just develop leaders. We contribute to the broader conversation about what great leadership looks like in a changing world of work.
However you choose to start, we are ready to help you build the
leaders your organization needs today, and to effectively lead into
the future.