Developing 21st-Century Educational Leadership Skills for Effective University Employees' Management

Abstract

Possessing relevant educational leadership skills is the requirement for effective and efficient service delievery in managing the members of staff on the university payroll. Otherwise, unmanageable crisis becomes inevitable. Thus, this paper critically examined cultivating 21st century educational leadership skills in managing university employees. The scope of the study constitutes the university employees. Basic and descriptive survey research designs with secondary data were employed for the study. Transformational leadership theory was adopted as the framework to guide the study. The basic concepts and variables are defined with the review of relevant literature. Also explained are the types of leadership styles, empirical studies and formulation of a conceptual framework to explain the main variables of the study. It was discovered that cultivating 21st century educational leadership skills is the best mechanism to manage university employees for effective service delivery. Thus, the paper recommended that university administrators should embrace the 21st century educational leadership skills such as visionary thinking, collaborative mind-set, digital literacy, cultural competence, adaptive leadership and innovative problem-solving. By cultivating these skills, it is believed that educational leaders can effectively navigate the complexities of the 21st-century education and create innovative and student-centred learning environments.