LEAD WITH ZIA

Leadership, mentoring, emotional intelligence, and human-centric transformation at executive depth.

Enterprise Transformation & Human Capital Consultant | Group COO, Creative Business Group | CEO & Lead Facilitator, Academy for Technology & Leadership | Executive Coach & Mentor | Creator of the ©RISE & ©EXCEL Frameworks 23+ years of leadership across Telecom, RMG, F&B, Education, Publishing, and Technology, including two Fortune 500 companies and international leadership experience in Malaysia.

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23+

Years of practice

Fortune 500 tenures

Industries served

1st

Bengali book on mentoring

Group COO◆CEO · Academy for Technology & Leadership◆Executive Mentor◆Author — Mentor@Backpack◆©RISE & ©EXCEL◆Fortune 500 Exposure◆MBA, Malaysia◆Group COO◆CEO · Academy for Technology & Leadership◆Executive Mentor◆Author — Mentor@Backpack◆©RISE & ©EXCEL◆Fortune 500 Exposure◆MBA, Malaysia◆Group COO◆CEO · Academy for Technology & Leadership◆Executive Mentor◆Author — Mentor@Backpack◆©RISE & ©EXCEL◆Fortune 500 Exposure◆MBA, Malaysia◆

01 · About

A practitioner before a facilitator.

↓ Download my profile

Zia Uddin Mahmud currently serves as the Group Chief Operating Officer of Creative Business Group (CBG) and CEO & Lead Facilitator of the Academy for Technology & Leadership (ATL). He provides strategic leadership across a diversified business portfolio, driving enterprise transformation, operational excellence, organizational development, human capital strategy, customer experience, and technology-enabled innovation. Throughout his career, he has successfully led business expansion, organizational restructuring, performance improvement, and leadership capability development, helping organizations build high-performing teams and sustainable growth.

With over 23 years of leadership experience, Zia has worked across Telecommunications, RMG, F&B, Education, Publishing, and Technology industries. His professional journey includes leadership roles in two Fortune 500 companies and international executive experience in Malaysia, providing him with a unique blend of global best practices and deep regional market understanding.

He holds an MBA in Leadership Management and International Relations from Malaysia. He is also a Certified Professional Learning Facilitator, holds a Diploma in Mentoring and Coaching, and is a Certified NLP Practitioner. He has completed the CXO AI Leadership Program at IIT Delhi and is a Perplexity AI Business Fellow. These qualifications enable him to connect business strategy with emerging technologies and AI-driven transformation.

As an executive coach, mentor, consultant, and facilitator, Zia is the creator of the proprietary ©RISE and ©EXCEL Leadership Frameworks. His facilitation style is highly interactive, practical, and business-focused—combining real-world leadership experience, strategic thinking, storytelling, coaching methodologies, and hands-on implementation. His programs are designed not only to inspire leaders but also to create measurable behavioral change, strengthen organizational capability, and deliver sustainable business results.

Credentials

·TOT — IFC (World Bank Group)
·Certified Professional Learning Facilitator (Mastery)
·Professional Diploma in Mentoring & Coaching
·Certified NLP Practitioner
·©RISE & ©EXCEL Coach
·CXO AI & Tech Leadership — IIT Delhi
·Perplexity AI Business Fellowship

02 · Proprietary frameworks

Two frameworks. One leadership operating system.

©RISE and ©EXCEL are the intellectual property of Zia Uddin Mahmud — structured tools used across mentoring, leadership development, and executive presence engagements.

Coaching Framework

©RISE

Reflect

Honest self-inquiry as the starting line.

Intention

Clarity of purpose before motion.

Strategize

Map the path with disciplined choices.

Execute

Translate intent into measurable action.

Leadership Framework

©EXCEL

Expertise

Expression

Composition

Emotional Intelligence

Leadership

03 · Signature programs

Built for the room you're actually leading.

Each program is cohort-based, activity-driven, and customized to your industry context.

Executive Reflection01

Management Reflection Program for Senior Leadership & BOD

For Senior Leaders, C-Suite & Board of Directors

→Structured reflection process for examining leadership legacy, strategic decisions, and organizational impact
→Boardroom-ready conversations on governance, culture, and people strategy alignment
→©EXCEL applied at the executive level — presence, influence, and strategic communication mastery
→Facilitated peer dialogue with senior cohorts for cross-sector perspective and insight
→Leadership identity audit — who you are as a leader vs who your organization needs you to be
→Designed for high-stakes roles: board members, managing directors, group CEOs, and C-suite executives

Emotional Intelligence02

Emotional Intelligence for Managing Self and at Workplace with ©RISE Framework

For Employees, Professionals & Managers Working Under Pressure, Conflict & Change

→Builds self-awareness of emotional triggers, behaviour patterns, and their impact on workplace performance and relationships
→Covers the fundamentals of emotional intelligence and Daniel Goleman’s five competencies: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills
→Explains the limbic system and emotional hijack, cognitive biases, and limiting beliefs — with practical regulation and resilience techniques
→©RISE coaching cycle used as a self-assessment tool to assess a workplace situation and choose a more constructive response
→Highly experiential: role-plays on trigger replay, perspective-taking role reversal, heated conversations, and giving and receiving feedback
→Includes EI self-assessment, reflection journal, peer coaching, and a personal emotional growth action plan

Leadership03

©RISE & ©EXCEL Mentoring and Leadership Program

For Individual Leaders, Line Managers & Senior Managers

→Structured mentoring journey from self-awareness to strategic leadership identity
→©RISE coaching cycle embedded for participant-led goal setting and accountability
→©EXCEL framework for executive communication, presence, and influence skills
→Real-world leadership challenges used as case studies across industries and functions
→Cohort-based with peer coaching, action pledges, and 30-day application sprints
→Suitable for individual contributors, team leads, and senior managers

Customer Experience04

Human-Centric Customer Experience for Relationship Management

For Sales Teams, Relationship Managers & After-Sales Professionals

→Builds empathy-led service culture across frontline and relationship management roles
→Covers the full customer journey — acquisition, trust-building, retention, and recovery
→Communication frameworks for high-stakes conversations and complaint resolution
→Tailored modules for sector-specific service contexts and customer touchpoints
→After-sales service excellence — turning transactions into long-term relationships
→Activity-based with role-plays, real complaint scenarios, and service design tools

Management05

First Time Manager with ©RISE & ©EXCEL Leadership Framework

For Newly Promoted Managers & High-Potential Individual Contributors

→Designed for the critical transition from individual contributor to people manager
→Covers leadership identity shift, delegation mastery, and difficult conversations
→©RISE coaching model for building a personal management philosophy from day one
→©EXCEL pillars applied to communication clarity, feedback culture, and team accountability
→Multi-batch delivery format suitable for large organizations across functions
→Includes 30-day action pledges, peer learning circles, and manager check-ins

Influence & Stakeholders06

Influence Without Authority for Stakeholder Management

For Cross-Functional Leaders, Managers & Senior Managers

→Equips leaders to drive outcomes without direct positional power or hierarchy
→Stakeholder mapping, alignment strategies, and persuasion through credibility
→Navigating resistance, building cross-functional trust, and managing up effectively
→Practical tools: influence style assessment, coalition-building, and negotiation maps
→Scenarios drawn from matrix organizations, project teams, and shared-service functions
→Ideal for project managers, business partners, and emerging senior leaders

Mentoring07

Mentoring Matters with ©RISE & ©EXCEL Framework · RISE Mentoring Practitioner

For Mentors, Coaches, People Managers & Organizations Building a Mentoring Culture

→Builds structured mentoring capability — from one-on-one conversations to organization-wide mentoring programs
→©RISE framework applied to mentoring conversations: Reflect, Inquire, Strategize, and Execute for meaningful developmental dialogue
→©EXCEL pillars used to develop mentors’ communication style, active listening, and feedback delivery skills
→Covers mentor mindset, boundary-setting, goal alignment, and managing the mentoring relationship over time
→Practical tools: mentoring agreement templates, conversation guides, progress tracking, and milestone check-ins
→Suitable for internal mentoring programs, leadership pipelines, and formal corporate mentoring initiatives

Moments from Zia's leadership programs — facilitation, activities, and cohort group photos

Mentor@Backpack book cover by Zia Uddin Mahmud

04 · Thought leadership

Mentor@Backpack — carrying mentorship into everyday work.

Recognized as the first Bengali book on mentoring, Mentor@Backpack reflects Zia's commitment to developing a mentoring culture across the region — a practical companion for leaders who want to make mentorship a daily practice, not an annual program.

Order from rokomari.com

05 · Blog

Notes on leadership, people, and transformation.

Essays and reflections from 23+ years of leading teams and building organizations — new articles coming soon.

Human-Centric Leadership

Putting people at the center of strategy — leading with empathy, trust, and purpose in results-driven organizations.

Coming soon

Leading Self

Self-awareness, discipline, and personal mastery — the inner work every leader must do before leading others.

Coming soon

Mentoring & Coaching

Building mentoring cultures and coaching conversations that develop people, not just performance reviews.

Coming soon

Customer Experience

Designing service and experience that turn customers into advocates — lessons from telecom, F&B, and beyond.

Coming soon

Organizational Transformation

Enterprise change, restructuring, and culture shifts — what actually makes transformation stick.

Coming soon

AI & Human

Where artificial intelligence meets human leadership — augmenting judgment, not replacing it.

Coming soon

06 · Engage

Let's design the next chapter of your leadership.

For keynotes, cohort programs, executive mentoring, or transformation advisory — reach out directly.

leadwithzia@gmail.com

Phone

+880 1841 110 190

/in/leadwithzia

Zia Uddin Mahmud facilitating a live leadership workshop