Executive Conversations for Ownership, Accountability & Growth
KUN Academy · built on Somatic Thinking™ · led by Samer Hassan, ICF MCC
Leadership isn't decided in strategy decks. It's decided in conversations.
The General Manager's playbook — for the leaders who own the outcome and grow the people who deliver it.
The GM Playbook turns everyday leadership conversations into your organisation's most reliable engine for ownership, faster problem-solving, and accountability — a shared way of leading that scales across every layer of the institution.
Three milestones, each complete on its own. Start where it fits; deepen when ready.
Built on Somatic Thinking™ · led by Samer Hassan, ICF MCC · trusted by leaders across government, development finance, and multinationals · ICF Continuing Coach Education (CCE) hours on request.
Why the GM Playbook
You became the bottleneck by being good at your job.
Every senior leader knows the fog — too little information, too little time, changes from above, resistance below, expectations pressing in from every side. You absorb all of it, and it converges on one place: you. The team waits for your permission. Decisions move at your pace. Ownership never quite transfers. You become the constant escalation point — the invisible bottleneck the whole organisation routes through.
Here's the uncomfortable part: you built it — not through neglect, but through competence. Every quick answer taught your people to bring you the next question instead of thinking it through. Every hard conversation you softened taught them to keep the peace instead of owning the result. The instinct that made you indispensable is the same one keeping your people dependent.
The two moves that feel most like good leadership are the ones that quietly cost the most:
The method behind it
A leader is a radar, not a cartographer.
The Playbook is built on Somatic Thinking™ (التفكير الحسّي) — Samer Hassan's published, presence-based methodology — adapted for the executive room. It gives leaders four working capabilities:
The stance lens
A clear read on the stance each moment calls for — so it's a conscious choice, not a reflex.
The Coaching Framework
The Somatic Thinking Coaching Framework — creates clarity, strengthens ownership, and closes with a clear accountability agreement.
Listening & clean inquiry
Executive-level profound listening — questions built on what is happening now, not the assumptions of the past or worries about the future.
Presence & Interaction Fact-Check
Self-awareness through an observer-based check — and explicitly not psychometrics.
Managing · Mentoring · Coaching — which does this moment need?
This is a method with roots, and we borrow our authority from no one. Lived practice leads — years of work, hundreds of thousands of sessions. Contemporary science (embodied cognition, interoception) and a deep intellectual heritage stand as corroborating witnesses, never as the ground we stand on.
The journey
The journey — three milestones
Each milestone is complete on its own. Start where it fits; deepen when ready. M1 → M2 → M3 build in sequence, but the Executive Briefing stands fully on its own.
Executive Briefing
Ownership & accountability, in action — in one day.
A private executive working session on real leadership moments, not theory. In one focused day, leaders get a clear lens for choosing the stance the moment calls for — managing vs. mentoring vs. coaching — a felt sense of how one conversation shifts ownership and follow-through, a guided experience of profound listening and clean inquiry grounded in what is happening now, and the full pathway, with what changes at each milestone.
ICF CCE completion — on requestWho it’s for
Senior leaders and their teams — executives, directors, and department heads — across government and public sector, development finance, corporate and multinational organisations, and academic institutions. Ideal as a first group's introduction.
What leaders leave with
- A clear lens for managing vs. mentoring vs. coaching.
- A felt sense of how one conversation shifts ownership.
- A guided taste of profound listening and clean inquiry.
- The full pathway — and what changes at each milestone.
Format & commitment
Foundation
Where understanding becomes a repeatable practice.
Two high-application, low-theory days for seasoned leaders who want clear, fast-to-grasp impact. By the end, participants can distinguish and apply managing vs. mentoring vs. coaching in real situations; use the Somatic Thinking Coaching Framework to create clarity, strengthen ownership, and close with accountability; demonstrate executive-level listening and clean inquiry; and build self-awareness through the Presence & Interaction Fact-Check. Each participant receives a step-by-step manual with a 30-day application plan.
ICF CCE hours — on requestWho it’s for
An organisation's senior and operational leaders — directors and department heads · 10–15 participants.
What leaders leave with
- A conversation format they can use the next morning.
- A sharper read on when to manage and when to coach.
- A 30-day plan to make it stick.
- A step-by-step application manual.
Format & commitment
Mastery Lab
From correct application to consistent mastery.
A vertical deepening — from “knowing how” to consistent, high-impact leadership conversations, built on advanced scenarios from the organisation's own reality. By the end, leaders can widen their range of inquiry, raise the frequency of these conversations in daily work, open creativity and strengthen trust, and improve problem-solving while tying decisions to the bigger picture.
ICF CCE hours — on requestWho it’s for
Leaders who have completed the Foundation and want these conversations to become a consistent, organisation-wide standard.
What leaders leave with
- A wider inquiry range.
- A higher cadence of ownership conversations.
- Decisions that stay tied to the bigger picture.
- Built on advanced scenarios from your own reality.
Format & commitment
Who this is for
Who this is for
For the leader
For the leader — if you want to reduce escalation, build stronger ownership, and make your conversations a source of clarity and follow-through rather than dependence, this gives you a method you can apply immediately and deepen over time.
For the organisation
For the organisation — if you want future-ready leaders, a stronger culture of ownership and accountability, and less dependence on senior leadership as the constant answer source, the GM Playbook builds a shared language and a repeatable standard, scalable across the institution's leadership layers.
National capability
Built for national capability agendas
The GM Playbook supports the national human-capability agendas reshaping the region — from Saudi Vision 2030's Human Capability Development Program to the UAE's We the UAE 2031, Qatar National Vision 2030, Egypt Vision 2030, and Oman Vision 2040 — building leadership capacity and a culture of ownership and accountability.
From the room
What leaders consistently report
When targets accelerate and stakes rise, leaders default to quick answers and escalation — ownership weakens, problem-solving slows, dependence on the “rescuer” grows.
Sessions hold attention from the first minute because they run on real cases, real language, and real leadership moments.
Clearer conversations, stronger ownership, and a gradual drop in dependence on the leader as the constant source of answers.
Trusted by leaders across government, development finance, and multinationals — including SIDF, Emaar KAEC, and Motorola Solutions.
And around all of it — a community of practising leaders.
The Companionship — صحبة كُن
When a leadership team finishes the journey, they don't simply go back to work alone. They join the Companionship (صحبة كُن) — a living, worldwide community built on the same values we grow in every circle, where leaders keep practising, comparing notes, and growing together. The standard you built in the room keeps its company.
Proof & credibility
A method with a track record — and the institutional credibility to match.
KUN works where leadership is under scrutiny and the stakes are real:
Government & Public Sector
UK Diplomatic Academy (FCO) · Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Public Health Agency of Canada
Development Finance
Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF)
Multinational & Corporate
Intesa Sanpaolo / AlexBank · Emaar KAEC · Motorola Solutions · UNDP
Samer Hassan, ICF MCC — founder of KUN and creator of Somatic Thinking™, the first Arab and first Arabic speaker to hold the MCC, and an ICF Young Leader (2019). Over 30 years developing people and the inner work of leadership.
FAQ · objections
Questions before you commit
Is this coaching training, or leadership development?
Leadership development. You don't leave as a certified coach — you leave leading better. The Playbook borrows the discipline of a published coaching method and puts it to work in the executive room.
Do we have to commit to all three milestones?
No. Each milestone is complete on its own. Most organisations start with the Executive Briefing — it delivers value by itself and establishes fit with no obligation — then choose whether to deepen through the Foundation workshop and the Mastery Lab.
Can it run for our sector and our context?
Yes. The Mastery Lab in particular is built on advanced scenarios from your own reality, and the program runs across government, development finance, corporate and multinational, and academic settings.
Is this psychometrics or an assessment?
No. The Presence & Interaction Fact-Check is observer-based — a practical way to build self-awareness, not a test or a personality instrument.
What about accreditation?
All three milestones can carry ICF Continuing Coach Education (CCE) hours, available on request. They are continuing-education credit within a leadership program, not a coach credential on their own.
In person or online?
The Executive Briefing is delivered in person. The Foundation and Mastery Lab run in person, online, or hybrid.
How is it priced?
The GM Playbook is scoped and priced per engagement. Tell us about your organisation and we'll prepare a proposal.
Leadership is built one conversation at a time. This is where you start.
Begin with an Executive Briefing — especially for a first group. It delivers value on its own and establishes fit with no obligation. From there, your leaders and your organisation can choose to deepen through the Foundation workshop and the Mastery Lab.
By arrangement
Bring it to your organisation
The GM Playbook runs as a commissioned engagement, scoped to your organisation. Tell us a little and we'll prepare a proposal — no public dates or prices.