Kosmas Sobon, E. Kus Eddy Sartono, Mukhamad Murdiono, Melky Malingkas, Johanis Ohoitimur
Schools benefit from a leadership approach that prioritises both achieving results and nurturing human values and a spirit of service. This study aims to analyse and test the leadership traits of humility, self-sacrifice and servant leadership as mediators of school principals’ leadership performance. This study used a quantitative approach with a survey of 75 respondents randomly selected from 308 individuals. Data analysis was conducted using SEM-SmartPLS 3.0 to examine the relationship between humility, self-sacrifice and servant leadership as mediation and performance. The results showed that humility contributed 25.7% and 66.5% to servant leadership. In addition, servant leadership plays a mediating role with a contribution of 87.3% to the principal's leadership effectiveness. This study highlights the importance of developing and balancing humanistic values to prepare principals for professionalism in navigating the complexities of modern educational leadership, including curriculum changes, resource limitations, technological and information developments. This research provides actionable concepts for policy makers, educators and administrators seeking to improve the quality of school leadership. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Department of Primary Education, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta City, Indonesia; Department of Civic Education, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta City, Indonesia; Department of Philosophy, Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Seminari Pineleng, Minahasa, Indonesia
