Leadership development has emerged as a top priority for HR leaders across the Middle East. Given the region’s economic transformation, demographic shifts, and the transition to non-energy sectors, developing strong leaders is more essential than ever.

 

The SHRPA State of the HR Industry: Middle East Insights shows pressing challenge of building the right leaders. A staggering 98% of HR and business leaders said developing leaders was their most critical business challenge for 2025. 

To unpack challenges that hinder effective leadership and formulate solutions, People Matters SHRPA Talent Talk hosted an exclusive webinar featuring  Maan Fatani,Group Vice President of HR & Shared Services - Middle East Paper Company (MEPCO), Waleed Al Rashed, Senior leader - People Development, Government Entity, Zainab Maghrabi, Leader of Capability Strategy and Transformation, Saudi Geological Survey who shared insights on decoding the new leadership paradigm in the Middle East.

 

Navigating leadership challenges in the Middle East

 

The Middle East’s business environment is undergoing a dramatic transformation, presenting unique challenges for leaders. As businesses expand globally, leaders must cater to both external and internal stakeholders. Externally, the region’s diverse consumer base demands a deep understanding of different cultural backgrounds, values, and expectations. Internally, organisations must manage multi-generational workforces each with distinct values and communication styles.

Leadership development across the Middle East remains a top priority for HR leaders and faces multiple key challenges that HR needs to address through skills like global mindset, digital mindset, agility and technology adoption effectiveness.

 

Essential leadership skills for the future

 

To succeed in this evolving landscape, following skills is a must for leaders in the Middle East 

  • Visionary Thinking: Leaders must anticipate future challenges and drive organisations forward with a proactive, long-term perspective.
  • Digital Fluency: The ability to integrate and leverage technology, particularly AI, is essential for driving efficiency and transformation.
  • Agility and Adaptability: Given the fast-paced business environment, leaders must be flexible in navigating market shifts, workforce dynamics, and evolving consumer needs. 

 

Developing effective leadership programs

 

For leadership development programs to be truly impactful, HR teams must ensure they are aligned with business strategy and organisational needs.  The panelists suggested that a structured leadership development approach should differentiate between managerial competencies—focused on operational execution—and leadership capabilities, which emphasize inspiring and guiding teams.

Organisations must foster a culture of continuous learning by implementing structured mentorship programs, leadership coaching, and experiential learning opportunities.  Leading self, people and business aligned with corporate values are important aspects of sustainable leadership development.

 

Other key highlights from the discussion:

 

  • The role of leaders is in defining workforce productivity and engagement in the coming time. Leaders must integrate technology and human-centric strategies to achieve operational efficiencies while fostering employee engagement.
  • There is a need for CHROs in the Middle East to evolve and focus on business impact. To this end, HR is a key stakeholder in enhancing leadership agility and building leaders that are role models in their companies.
  • Leveraging AI and technology to enhance talent management and workforce planning. Technologies like AI and analytics are becoming a major part of how leadership pipelines are created and development programs are being improved.
  • Creating value-driven leadership models that align with company goals will help organisations build a sustainable pipeline of future leaders.
  • Rewarding leaders in monetary and non-monetary ways is crucial in retaining leaders that become role models in their organisations.