Gender-inclusive leadership development should focus on the capabilities required for leadership and on whether employees have fair access to the experiences, feedback, sponsorship and promotion processes that develop those capabilities. It should not be built around assumptions that women and men have fixed leadership styles.<\/p>\n
For organisations in the Middle East and North Africa, the design also needs to reflect national labour markets, law and workforce patterns. Regional averages can provide context, but leadership participation and barriers vary substantially between countries and sectors.<\/p>\n
Leadership development should begin with the work leaders need to perform. Relevant capabilities can include:<\/p>\n
The standards should be explicit enough that employees can understand how leadership readiness is assessed.<\/p>\n
The ILO’s 2026 statistical brief on gender and the world of work in the Arab States emphasises the need for high-quality, disaggregated labour statistics to measure women’s participation in leadership, gender pay gaps, women in STEM, violence and harassment at work, unpaid care and other employment outcomes.<\/p>\n
Source: ILO, Gender and statistics in the world of work in the Arab States Region, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n This is a better basis for workforce decisions than treating one \u201cfemale participation rate\u201d as the story of the entire Middle East. Organisations should use country, sector, level and occupation data where possible.<\/p>\n An organisation may have women in the workforce while still seeing differences in who receives:<\/p>\n Leadership development should therefore measure access to the experiences that build readiness, not only the final percentage of leaders by gender.<\/p>\n In August 2026, the ILO and the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions ran leadership, advocacy and campaigning training for women and young trade unionists. The programme focused on practical skills for building alliances, communicating messages, engaging in policy and collective bargaining, and participating in decision-making.<\/p>\n Source: ILO, Training strengthens leadership capacities of women and young trade unionists, Jordan, August 2026<\/a><\/p>\n This is an example of skills-focused leadership development in the region. It is not evidence that one training programme produces a universal percentage improvement in promotion, retention or business performance.<\/p>\n A course can build knowledge and confidence, but employees also need opportunities to use the capability. Useful development pathways can combine:<\/p>\n The organisation should track whether access to these opportunities is distributed fairly.<\/p>\n Leadership-pipeline problems can emerge when promotion depends heavily on informal visibility, personal networks or vague ideas of \u201cexecutive presence\u201d.<\/p>\n A more defensible process:<\/p>\n The goal is not to create a quota through the back door. It is to make the assessment of leadership readiness clear and job-related.<\/p>\n Mentors can help employees understand decisions, build skills and navigate development. Sponsors use their influence to advocate for a person to receive an opportunity or be considered for a role.<\/p>\n Both can be useful, but neither should depend entirely on informal personal chemistry. Organisations can review who has access to influential sponsors, high-visibility assignments and decision-makers.<\/p>\n Leadership programmes should not assume that the only credible path involves constant after-hours availability, relocation or informal networking outside normal work. Where job requirements allow, organisations can examine whether working patterns unintentionally screen out capable employees.<\/p>\n This needs country-specific legal and organisational analysis rather than one regional rule.<\/p>\n Inclusive leadership development is not only training for women. Managers and talent decision-makers also need to understand how to:<\/p>\nRepresentation and development access are different measures<\/h2>\n
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Leadership training can build practical influence skills<\/h2>\n
Leadership development should connect training with real responsibility<\/h2>\n
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Make promotion criteria transparent<\/h2>\n
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Sponsorship and mentoring solve different problems<\/h2>\n
Flexible work and care responsibilities belong in leadership-system design<\/h2>\n
Managers need training on fair talent decisions<\/h2>\n
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