Forward Training & Consulting has received a 2026 Global Recognition Award for its evidence-informed approach to executive coaching, leadership development, and organizational transformation across the GCC. Led by organizational psychologist Dr. Soha Chahine, the firm delivers science-based solutions that enhance leadership effectiveness and organizational performance.
— As global employee engagement falls to its lowest level since the pandemic, Forward Training & Consulting FZE, a UAE-based leadership development and executive coaching firm, has been named a recipient of a 2026 Global Recognition Award in the Innovation, Leadership, and Service category. The award recognizes the firm’s behavioral-science-grounded approach to leadership development across organizations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
Gallup’s most recent State of the Global Workplace report places global employee engagement at 21 percent in 2024, down from 23 percent the year before the first annual decline since the pandemic, at an estimated cost of $438 billion in lost productivity worldwide. The decline has placed renewed pressure on leadership development providers to demonstrate measurable, durable behavioral outcomes from their programs, rather than completion rates or satisfaction scores.
Forward Training & Consulting FZE, founded by Dr. Soha Chahine, an organizational psychologist with a doctorate focused on talent and culture transformation, was recognized for methodology built around that distinction. The firm works with senior leaders and organizations across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman including private sector companies, government and semi-government entities, multinational corporations, and family-held businesses across all major sectors.
“Most leadership programs measure what people learn,” Dr. Chahine said. “Far fewer measure what people actually do differently afterwards. That gap is where leadership development either holds or breaks down.”
Methodology and Measurement
Forward Training & Consulting FZE combines validated psychometric instruments including the EQ-i 2.0 and EQ 360 emotional intelligence assessments, the Leadership Circle Profile (LCP), and the Resilience at Work (R@W) model with proprietary leadership and behavioral frameworks developed internally by Dr. Soha Chahine and her team. The firm’s programs are experiential rather than instructional, drawing on scenario-based simulations, business case immersions, role-plays, structured group dialogues, reflective practice, and creative methods including LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®.
The firm’s focus areas inside complex organizations are decision-making under pressure, difficult conversations, stakeholder influence, accountability, and resilience during structural change. Its sector reach spans FMCG, energy, healthcare, real estate, automotive, pharmaceuticals, aviation, conglomerate, government, logistics, professional services, hospitality and technology, with the underlying behavioral methodology calibrated to the operating reality of each client.
Recognition and Evaluation
Global Recognition Awards evaluates nominees through a multi-stage review process based on innovation, leadership, service, sustainability, and social responsibility. Shortlisted applicants are scored using the Rasch model, a measurement approach that allows fair comparison across different categories of contribution.
“Forward Training & Consulting FZE has built systems that change how people lead, not just how they talk about leadership,” said Alex Sterling, spokesperson for Global Recognition Awards. “That distinction is what set this submission apart.”
A Founder at the Intersection of Science and Practice
Dr. Soha Chahine holds a doctorate in organizational psychology with a focus on talent and culture transformation, and is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC). She is a TEDx speaker, co-author of The Talent Matrix (Global Influencers Publishing House, 2025) and Shaken, Stirred but Not Deterred, Vol. 2 (Global Influencers Publishing House, 2023), and a contributor author to Harvard Business Review Arabia and Economy Middle East.
Dr. Soha Chahine’s argument implicit in her work, explicit in her published writing, is that organizational performance in the GCC over the coming decade will depend less on what leaders know and more on how they behave under pressure. Workforce nationalization, AI-driven role redesign, and generational transition inside family-held businesses are each, in their own way, pressure tests for that thesis.
“The economies in this region are moving faster than the leadership infrastructure inside most organizations was built for,” Dr. Chahine said. “You can rebuild the infrastructure, or you can keep paying the cost of running advanced strategies on outdated behavioral systems. The cost is not always visible on a balance sheet, but it is real.”
Final Words
“Forward Training & Consulting FZE has done something that most leadership development firms only claim to do: it has built systems that change how people lead, not just how they talk about leadership,” said Alex Sterling, spokesperson for Global Recognition Awards. The statement reflects an evaluation focus centered on behavioral outcomes rather than theoretical alignment. The assessment emphasizes consistency in measurable organizational impact across different applications.
“Forward Training & Consulting FZE has demonstrated that leadership development, when grounded in science and designed around human behavior, can produce real and lasting organizational change,” Sterling added. The recognition underscores the increasing emphasis on evidence-based leadership systems within global organizational development practices. The award signals a shift toward methodologies that prioritize sustained behavioral transformation over conventional training delivery models.
About Dr. Soha Chahine
Dr. Soha Chahine is the founder of Forward Training & Consulting FZE. She holds a doctorate in organizational psychology with a focus on talent and culture transformation, and is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and TEDx speaker. She is the co-author of The Talent Matrix (2025) and Shaken, Stirred but Not Deterred, Vol. 2 (2023), and a contributor author to Harvard Business Review Arabia and Economy Middle East.
About Forward Training & Consulting FZE
Forward Training & Consulting FZE is a UAE-based leadership development, executive coaching, organizational development, and corporate training firm. Founded by Dr. Soha Chahine, the firm serves clients across the United Arab Emirates and the wider GCC including private sector organizations, government and semi-government entities, multinational corporations, and family-held enterprises with practice areas spanning executive coaching, leadership development, emotional intelligence, resilience at work,
psychometric assessments, team development, and human-centered organizational transformation.
About Global Recognition Awards
Global Recognition Awards is an international organization that recognizes exceptional companies and individuals who have significantly contributed to their industry.
Contact Info:
Name: Alexander Sterling
Email: Send Email
Organization: Global Recognition Awards
Website: https://globalrecognitionawards.org
Release ID: 89193763
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