ABSTRACT

Purpose: In educational institutions, prophetic leadership is claimed to make a significant impact on the improvement of academic quality and bring educational excellence. This study focuses on the prophetic leadership style practiced by leaders in private universities in Indonesia and examines the model of strengthening prophetic leadership and its implementation to develop superior education. Methodology: A qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach was applied on a sample of ten informants, comprising university leaders and lecturers from two developing private universities. The data was collected through in-depth interview techniques, and interview transcripts were analyzed using interactive techniques of data reduction, presentation, and interpretation. The findings reveal that prophetic leadership contributes to the liberation of human resources from the shackles of status quo thinking. It helps to prioritize the achievement of goals and builds motivation to establish a superior educational unit. Findings: The findings imply that prophetic leadership style consistently reflects liberation, humanism, and transcendence behavior. The limitations encountered in the study would lead to more comprehensive research in future.