Zia Uddin Mahmud — Leadership & Mentoring

01 · About

A practitioner before a facilitator.

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.

Academically, he holds an MBA in Leadership Management & International Relations from Malaysia. He is a Certified Professional Learning Facilitator, holds a Diploma in Mentoring & Coaching, is a Certified NLP Practitioner, and has completed an Executive AI Leadership Program from IIT, enabling him to bridge business strategy with emerging technologies and AI-driven transformation for modern organizations.

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

R

Reflect

Honest self-inquiry as the starting line.

I

Intention

Clarity of purpose before motion.

S

Strategize

Map the path with disciplined choices.

E

Execute

Translate intent into measurable action.

Leadership Framework

©EXCEL

E

Expertise

X

Expression

C

Composition

E

Emotional Intelligence

L

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.

Senior Leaders, C-Suite & Board of Directors01

Executive Reflection — Management Reflection Program for Senior Leadership & BOD

For board members, managing directors, group ceos & c-suite executives

→Structured reflection on leadership legacy, strategic decisions, and organisational impact
→Boardroom-ready conversations on governance, culture, and people strategy alignment
→©EXCEL at the executive level — presence, influence, and strategic communication mastery
→Facilitated peer dialogue with senior cohorts for cross-sector perspective
→Leadership identity audit — who you are vs who your organisation needs you to be

Leadership02

©RISE & ©EXCEL Mentoring and Leadership Program

For individual leaders, line managers & senior managers

→Structured mentoring journey from self-awareness to strategic identity
→Participant-led goal setting with the RISE coaching cycle
→EXCEL framework for executive presence and influence
→Cohort-based with peer coaching and 30-day application sprints

Customer Experience03

Human-Centric CX for Relationship Management

For sales teams, relationship managers & after-sales pros

→Empathy-led service culture across the frontline
→Full customer journey: acquisition, trust, retention, recovery
→Frameworks for high-stakes conversations and complaint resolution
→Role-plays, real complaint scenarios, and service design tools

Management04

For newly promoted managers & high-potential ics

→Designed for the IC → people manager transition
→Leadership identity shift, delegation, difficult conversations
→Personal management philosophy from day one
→30-day action pledges and peer learning circles

Influence05

Influence Without Authority

For cross-functional leaders & senior managers

→Drive outcomes without positional power
→Stakeholder mapping, alignment, persuasion through credibility
→Navigate resistance and manage up effectively
→Influence style assessment and coalition-building tools

Mentoring06

For mentors, coaches & organizations building a mentoring culture

→One-on-one conversations to org-wide mentoring programs
→RISE applied to developmental dialogue
→EXCEL pillars for listening, feedback, and presence
→Templates, conversation guides, and milestone check-ins

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.

05 · Engage