Abstract:
Generally, an excellent institution is led by effective leaders. Thus, this study was focusing on the method and characteristics of leadership that can be implemented among the upper management and lecturers in MARA Higher Educational Institution in Lumut, Perak. Data collection for this research was based on the two levels. First, the needs of analysis involved a qualitative method which is interview session involved Delphi Technique with four expert panels that have experience more than 5 years. The second phase was to build a model based on a high level of consensus achieve during interview session among the expert panels. This level involved a distribution of 30 set of questionnaire to 30 expert panels. In addition, the qualitative data from open-ended questions were collected for analysis. The quantitative date was analyzed by using SPSS that involved descriptive statistics such as mode, median and Inter Quartile Range (IQR). Other than that, the result on validation of the questionnaire was determined using Cronbach‟s Alpha. The validity of the questionnaire was 0.764 which means it is a good result and valid. This study also found five effective leadership domains, namely; Caring Leader, Concerned Leader, Leader as the Best Connector, Smart Leader and Leaders who have Goals. The model was designed based on high level of consensus with the median scores more than 4 and Inter Quartile Range less than 1. For the conclusion, research find out that a few key features of leadership characteristics are suitable to implement and be a guideline to the leaders among top management and lecturers in MARA Higher Educational Institution as it is important in order to ensure that all staff is working in a good and positive environment. Every single success story of an organization is come from the very first person who called leader.
