CEO, CMCS ONE of the most significant challenges faced by the higher management of any organization in the GCC, whether government or private, is to train and develop young nationals to take over the leadership roles to effectively achieve national goals and visions, including the drive to ‘smart' transformation. It has been noted that specialized training programs offer specific benefits such as nurturing and enhancing individual skills as well as educate them about the best practices and methodologies in management and leadership. We all will agree that training, both theoretical and practical, does not serve the purpose unless constant reinforcement to build up leadership skills is done as an integral part of the job and actions of the leader. One of the key methods to stimulate leadership skills in an individual is through the project management, which is the application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to plan, launch, implement and complete a project. This also includes time and cost management to ensure that the work is done in a specified period of time and budget as well as complies with the required quality and safety standards. In addition, efficient project management requires building and dealing with the team that is responsible for the project. This requires building effective communication channels between the team members and all the parties involved in the project, either directly or indirectly. Furthermore, the management requires specialized skills sets to perform risk analysis to identify and mitigate all risks that can impact the project. This leads us to the importance of acquiring high skills and competencies in risk management by the project manager which often require cooperating with external parties to address some risks that the implementing body cannot afford. The successful project management is not limited to the implementation of the best practices and methodologies by the project manager. It also requires the manager to be a leader who is able to build a cohesive team that is capable of overcoming all challenges. Moreover, he/she is required to resolve all the problems of the project before they get bigger and become an obstacle in achieving the desired goals. This proves the importance of acquiring special skills by the leader so that he is able to responsibly handle all kinds of pressures, while effectively negotiating, communicating and persuading concerned parties to obtain their full support to successfully complete a project. In other words, the project manager should possess individual skills that enables him/her to successfully manage the projects. These skills are varied and numerous and there is no better way to acquire them than through continuous practice until they become an essential part of the project manager's character and style of work. We conclude by saying that the stimulation of the leadership skills through project management remains the best and most successful way to prepare the leaders of the future.
