The ISPO Register Your Interest
Register Your Interest
Executive Leadership, Redefined

A Professional Body,
Not a Training Company

Leadership isn’t learned in theory. It’s forged in practice. The ISPO exists to establish Strategic People Operations as a recognised profession. We set the standard for how people and culture are led, develop the people who meet it, and award the credentials that prove it.

Register Your Interest Download the Prospectus
About Us

Traditional professional education hasn’t kept pace with what leadership actually requires.

The world does not need another qualification that teaches policy, process or competency frameworks. It needs leaders who know what to do when there is no framework.

The ISPO was built to close the gap between professional knowledge and executive judgement. We teach what usually gets learned the hard way: the boardroom conversation that goes sideways, the political reality nobody put in the induction pack, the call you have to make under pressure with half the facts.

This is leadership education built for how organisations actually work.

The Founders

Built by practitioners, not theorists.

Marcia Weekes-Spears, Co-Founder
Marcia Weekes-Spears
Co-Founder

Marcia Weekes-Spears is CEO and co-founder of Cognatio Lab, a boutique organisational consultancy and home of the Bubbology methodology, which addresses complex decision-making challenges at the highest levels of organisations. With over 25 years of experience in senior people and leadership roles, she has worked extensively across organisational strategy, leadership development and cultural transformation in the GCC.

Throughout her career, Marcia has recognised a persistent gap between traditional people management education and the realities of executive leadership. Her approach combines commercial insight, cultural intelligence and practical judgement, with a particular focus on navigating the legal, political and relational complexities of organisations. She champions leadership development that goes beyond theory, equipping professionals with the confidence, credibility and strategic judgement to influence decisions, navigate pressure and deliver meaningful organisational impact.

Reem Osman, Co-Founder
Reem Osman
Co-Founder

Reem Osman is a senior People and Culture executive with over two decades of experience driving organisational strategy, cultural transformation and executive leadership across the GCC.

Currently Chief of Culture at nybl, an AI technology company, and formerly its Chief People Officer, she has played a pivotal role in scaling the business, building its people function, shaping organisational strategy and embedding culture as a commercial driver of performance. Her expertise spans executive advisory, organisational transformation, leadership development and building high-performing, people-centred workplaces.

With a BSc in Human Biology, executive education from MIT and specialist qualifications in inclusive leadership and executive coaching, Reem combines academic depth, commercial judgement and a strong understanding of human behaviour.

At The ISPO, she brings this experience into executive education, developing influential, commercially astute People leaders equipped to shape business strategy and lead with confidence at the highest levels.

A Discipline, Defined

“Strategic People Operations”

noun · organisational leadership discipline

The discipline of understanding how leadership, behaviour, relationships, organisational systems and culture combine to shape organisational performance.

It goes beyond traditional HR because sustainable performance is built through people, not process. The discipline draws on organisational psychology and behavioural science as much as commercial strategy, helping leaders build organisations where people and performance aren’t competing priorities.

Organisational Psychology Behavioural Science Commercial Strategy Organisational Design Trust & Communication
What Makes Us Different

Professional bodies teach the theory. We teach what happens after you leave the room.

Professional bodies teach the technical knowledge of the profession. We teach what happens when that knowledge meets a room full of politics, personalities and pressure. Our programmes are built around the questions experienced leaders actually lose sleep over.

01

How do you influence people who don’t report to you?

02

How do you hold your integrity under commercial pressure?

03

How do you read organisational power?

04

How do you create cultures people actually experience, not just write about?

05

How do you lead through uncertainty?

Our Philosophy

Every module must pass one test.

Could CIPD or SHRM teach this programme exactly as written?

If the answer is yes, we redesign it. Traditional qualifications will tell you that judgement, influence and how you carry authority in a room matter. Ours is the programme that actually teaches them.

Our Programmes

Our programmes, built for different seats at the table.

Every ISPO programme is taught by experienced lecturers who know from practice that culture is a commercial advantage. Some have led people and culture at the most senior level. Others hold or have held C-suite roles and have built culture into how their businesses perform. All bring years of senior experience across the Gulf and beyond, and are chosen for their judgement in the room as much as their knowledge. Each cohort has its own lecturer, who leads the live sessions, works on the real issues in your organisation and gives written feedback on your applied work. Every lecturer teaches to The ISPO’s own standards and frameworks, so the quality of the programme stays the same whoever is leading it.

Foundational Tier 1 · Open enrolment

Certificate in People and Culture Practice

For HR officers, coordinators, advisors and those moving into the profession from adjacent roles.

The task is not the job. The relationship is.

The ground floor of the Institute. It teaches the relational craft the senior seat is built on, at the point a career begins, using real Gulf situations. Graduates become Certified Practitioners.

Six modules · Online · Certified Practitioner

Explore the Programme
Intermediate Tier 1 · Open enrolment

Advanced Certificate in People and Culture Practice

For HR business partners, advisors and specialists who are starting to advise the business. Entry is the Foundation Certificate or equivalent experience.

Moving things you do not control.

Where a practitioner stops being judged on their own work and starts being judged on whether they can move other people. Built around one instrument, the Influence Read.

Seven modules · Online · Certified Practitioner (Advanced)

Explore the Programme
Senior Tier 1 · Seven months

Advanced Certificate in Strategic People and Culture Leadership

For CHROs, Chief People Officers, HR Directors and Senior People & Culture Leaders.

Judgement is a boardroom skill, not an HR checklist.

Built for practitioners who already know the profession and are ready to operate at board level, influencing strategy rather than just supporting it.

Six four-week modules and a three-day close · Up to 15 · Fellow of The ISPO (FISPO)

Explore the Programme
Manager Tier 2 · Three months

Company Culture for Organisational Leaders

For new managers, and experienced leaders navigating shifting corporate dynamics.

Most people experience company culture through one person: their manager.

What a leader notices, rewards, lets slide and stays quiet about becomes the team’s culture.

Four modules · Hybrid · The ISPO Certificate in Team Culture Leadership

Explore the Programme
Executive Tier 2 · 13 weeks

Culture & Organisational Health

For CEOs, COOs, CFOs, Founders, MDs, business unit leaders and board members.

Culture is a commercial capability, not an HR initiative.

This programme shows senior leaders how culture actually drives performance, and what it costs when it’s left to chance.

13 weeks, live online · Three days in person · Up to six leaders

Explore the Programme
Qatar Edition Tier 2 · 12 weeks

Entering the Gulf: Leading Your Organisation into Qatar

For organisations committed to Qatar and within their first two years there. One organisation per cohort.

Your entry plan describes a market on paper. Your people will operate in a different one.

Prepares your entry leadership team to read the market, earn standing before it is needed, and build a people model that fits Qatar.

Three modules · One organisation per cohort · Closes with a live Entry Review

Explore the Programme
The Learning Experience

Leadership cannot be developed through lectures alone.

Executive workshops Real organisational case studies GCC business scenarios Leadership reflection Peer challenge Practical workplace application Small cohort learning Executive discussion Faculty mentoring
Why the GCC

The GCC presents leadership challenges unlike anywhere else.

We built the programmes around these specifics, because leadership taught in the abstract doesn’t transfer.

•

Cross-cultural workforces

•

Nationalisation strategies

•

Rapid economic transformation

•

Complex labour legislation

•

Family businesses alongside multinational corporations

•

Government vision programmes reshaping industries

Beyond Graduation

The ISPO Society

Graduation is where membership begins. Every graduate joins The ISPO Society as a Member, Associate or Fellow, depending on the credential they hold, and stays part of a working network of people and culture leaders across the GCC and the UK.

Earned through a credential. Kept through conduct.

01

The Annual Culture Summit

02

Monthly Majlis Evenings

03

Culture Read Clinics

04

Fellows’ Dinners

05

Speaker invitations and mentoring

06

A verified member directory

Your first year is free. Every member signs The ISPO Society Code of Conduct.

The ISPO Society

Earned through a credential. Kept through conduct.

A credential says you learned it. The Society says you still practise it. It is the members-only community for every graduate of a Programme from The ISPO, and every member signs the Society Code of Conduct on joining and again at every renewal.

Verified

Every member is listed in a public directory that employers can check in seconds.

Accountable

Anyone who works with a member can raise a concern through The ISPO Society Conduct Line.

Senior

People leaders and non-HR executives from Qatar, the GCC and the UK.

Fellow The Senior Programme and the Tier 2 Executive Programme

A complimentary Culture Summit seat, Fellows’ Dinners, speaker invitations and a mentor role.

Associate The Intermediate Programme, Company Culture for Organisational Leaders and Entering the Gulf

The Culture Summit at member rate, Culture Read Clinics and mentoring.

Member The Foundational Programme

A directory listing, The ISPO Society online room, Majlis Evenings and member rates on all Programmes.

Your first year is free. Membership fees are waived for the first year after graduation, and membership cannot be bought without the credential.

The ISPO Society Conduct Line: +974 4452 8149 (phone and WhatsApp). Open to employers, colleagues, clients and other members.

Read the Membership Guide Register Your Interest
Insights

Perspectives on People & Culture.

Thinking from The ISPO on leadership, culture and the profession of Strategic People Operations in the GCC.

The Unwritten Built on trust. Why workplace culture matters. Culture is a commercial capability, not an HR initiative. It is built the same way business always has been: through trust, standing and relationship. Read the article →
Research & Thought Leadership

Leadership research shouldn’t stop when the classroom does.

Our research spans organisational culture, behavioural science, GCC labour law and the future of work: the questions that will define leadership over the next decade, not just this one.

We publish it as we go, not once a year in a glossy report.

For Organisations

One strong leader helps. A network of them changes how the organisation runs.

Individual leaders create pockets of change. We work with organisations that want it to spread, partnering to build executive capability and the kind of culture that holds up under pressure.

01 Strengthen executive capability
02 Improve organisational health
03 Sustain long-term performance

We’re developing an accreditation for organisations that can prove this, not just claim it.

This is where it starts.

If you’re ready to lead past the policy manual and the theory, we’ll get you ready for what the job actually asks of you.

Register Your Interest Download the Prospectus
Get in Touch

Have a question before you apply?

Whether you’re weighing up which programme is the right fit, or exploring a partnership for your organisation, our team can talk it through with you directly.

Location Doha, Qatar

Write to our admissions team

Email us with your role, your organisation and the programme you are considering, and we will come back to you.

Email Admissions

We typically respond within one business day.

The ISPO ← Back to Homepage
Next Cohort

Register your interest

Share a few details and our admissions team will be in touch with the next steps, including current fees and intake dates.

All fields are required. We typically respond within one business day.

Thank you.

Your details have been received. Our admissions team will be in touch shortly with the next steps.

Return to Homepage
© 2026 The ISPO  ·  Privacy Policy  ·  Cookie Preferences
Elevating People. Advancing Strategy.
The ISPO ← Back to Homepage
Explore the Programme
Open PDF in a new tab ↗

Tap below to read the full programme overview.

Open the Programme
The ISPO ← Back to Insights

The Unwritten

Built on trust.
Why workplace culture matters.

Culture is a commercial capability, not an HR initiative. It is built the same way business always has been: through trust, standing and relationship.

The ISPOPeople & CultureDoha

Business has always been built on relationships. Trust is earned before it is needed. Standing matters. How something is done carries as much weight as what is done.

Workplace culture works the same way. It is not what an organisation writes about itself. It is what people actually experience, every day, in every meeting and through every manager. As Qatar National Vision 2030 reshapes industries and Qatarisation asks organisations to develop national talent, culture is becoming one of the deciding factors in who grows, who keeps their best people and who develops the next generation of Qatari leaders.

What it isCulture is how things actually work here.

Every organisation has a set of unwritten rules. They tell people what gets rewarded, what gets punished and what is safe to say out loud. That is the culture.

Values live on the wall. Culture lives in behaviour.

A value says “we speak up”. The culture is what happened to the last person who did.

That is why culture cannot be announced into existence. It is built, or eroded, in small moments: how a leader responds to bad news, who gets promoted and why, which behaviour is tolerated because the person delivers, and whether a promise made in a town hall survives the budget meeting.

Why it mattersA strong strategy rarely survives a weak culture.

Culture is the operating system every strategy has to run on. It decides four things leaders cannot afford to leave to chance.

The quality of decisions

Where people feel safe to challenge, problems surface early, while they are still cheap to fix. Where they do not, leaders hear what they want to hear until it is too late.

Trust under pressure

Any organisation looks healthy when results are good. Culture shows itself in a restructure, a difficult quarter or a change at the top. That is when people decide whether the organisation means what it says.

Who stays

Capable people rarely leave over one bad day. They leave when they conclude that the way things really work is not going to change, and they take knowledge, relationships and confidence with them.

What cannot be copied

A competitor can match your salaries, your systems and your strategy. A culture of trust, built over years, cannot be bought or borrowed.

Why the GCCCulture taught in the abstract does not transfer.

Organisations here bring together many nationalities, each with its own assumptions about hierarchy, directness and respect. Family businesses operate alongside multinationals and government entities, each with its own logic for how decisions really get made.

Qatarisation asks organisations to build workplaces where national talent chooses to stay and grow. Policy opens the door. Culture decides whether people walk through it, and whether they stay once they have.

A culture model imported from London or New York will not survive contact with Doha. Leaders here need to read the culture in front of them, not the one described in a textbook.

Where leaders startNot with a values statement.

Culture change does not begin with a new set of values or an engagement survey. It begins with what leaders notice, reward, let slide and stay quiet about. Four questions are a good place to start.

  1. 01What happened to the last person who brought me bad news?
  2. 02Which behaviours do we tolerate because the person delivers results?
  3. 03Who gets promoted here, and what does that tell everyone else?
  4. 04Where are the real decisions made, and who is left out of the room?

The answers are rarely comfortable. That is the point. Culture is shaped most by what leaders do when they believe no one is keeping score.

The ISPO ← Back to homepage
Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: 14 October 2026 · Last updated: 14 October 2026

1. Who we are

The Institute of Strategic People Operations (“The Institute,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates this website (the “Site”). We are a Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) entity based in Doha, Qatar. This policy explains what personal data we collect through the Site, why we collect it, and the choices you have.

Where you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, this policy is also intended to meet our obligations to you as a data controller under the GDPR (and, where applicable, the UK GDPR). We do not currently have an EEA/UK representative appointed under Article 27 GDPR / Article 27 UK GDPR, as we do not regularly offer programmes to, or monitor the behaviour of, individuals in those regions; we will appoint one if that changes.

We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer, as one is not currently required for our size and type of processing. Any privacy queries should be directed to the contact in Section 12 below.

2. What we collect

We collect personal data in the following ways:

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal data (such as health, religious, or biometric information) through this Site, and we ask that you not include such information in the message field of any form.

3. Cookies and similar technologies

This Site uses a small amount of local storage rather than traditional tracking cookies:

You can control or delete local storage and cookies through your browser settings at any time. Doing so may cause the cookie notice to reappear and may affect how some parts of the Site display.

4. How we use your data

We use the personal data we collect to:

We do not sell personal data, and we do not use it for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

5. Legal basis for processing

Where the GDPR or other applicable law requires a legal basis for processing, we rely on one or more of the following:

We do not process any special category data (as defined in Article 9 GDPR) through this Site; see Section 2 above.

6. Who we share data with

We may share personal data with service providers who help us run the Site and our operations, such as our CRM provider (Zoho), email and hosting providers, and IT support. These providers are only permitted to use your data to provide services to us. We may also disclose personal data if required to do so by law, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Institute, our students, or others.

We do not otherwise share, rent, or sell personal data to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

7. Data retention

In line with the storage limitation principle under Article 5(1)(e) GDPR, we keep personal data only for as long as it is needed for the purpose we collected it for. When that period ends, we delete or anonymise the data. We use the following periods:

You can ask us to delete your data sooner by contacting us using the details in Section 12, subject to the rights and exceptions described in Section 9.

8. International transfers

Some of the service providers we use may store or process data outside Qatar, including, for visitors in the EEA or UK, outside those regions. Where this happens, we take reasonable steps to ensure your data continues to receive an appropriate level of protection, consistent with Qatar’s Personal Data Privacy Protection Law. Where we transfer personal data protected by the GDPR or UK GDPR to a country that has not been recognised as providing an adequate level of protection, we put appropriate safeguards in place, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum), before the transfer takes place. You can request more information about these safeguards by contacting us using the details in Section 12.

9. Your rights

Depending on where you are located, you may have the right to:

We do not use your personal data for any automated decision-making, including profiling, that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 12 below. We aim to respond within one month, as required by Article 12 GDPR, and will not charge a fee unless your request is manifestly unfounded, excessive, or repetitive.

10. Data security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or alteration. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Children’s privacy

This Site and our programmes are intended for working professionals and are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under the age of 18.

12. Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or wish to exercise your rights, contact us at admissions@theispo.com.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal or operational reasons. We will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page when we do.

14. Governing law

This policy is governed by the laws of the State of Qatar, including the Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (Law No. 13 of 2016), without prejudice to any additional rights you may have under the law of your own country of residence. Nothing in this policy limits any rights you have as a matter of mandatory law, including your rights under the GDPR or UK GDPR if you are located in the EEA or UK.

© 2026 The ISPO  ·  Cookie Preferences