Factors Influencing 21st Century leadership in the Southern Economic Corridor

Abstract

This research aims to 1) study the personal characteristics that influence 21st-century leadership in the Southern Economic Corridor 2) examine the levels of factors influencing 21st-century leadership and 3) analyze the factors affecting 21st-century leadership in the Southern Economic Corridor. A stratified sampling method was employed, dividing the sample across four provinces proportionally to their population sizes, resulting in a total of 322 participants. The research instrument was a questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, as well as hypothesis testing with t, f. The findings revealed that the respondents were mostly staff or operational employees with over six years of work experience, working as employees in private companies within the private sector. The factors influencing 21st-century leadership in the Southern Economic Corridor were rated at a high level across all dimensions, encompassing both transformational leadership and creative leadership. This indicates that leaders in the region possess a high level of leadership capability, excelling particularly in vision, idealized influence, and intellectual stimulation, which reflects their readiness to drive sustainable regional development. Furthermore, the study found that gender, position level, occupation, and type of organization are significant factors influencing 21st-century leadership. In particular, roles and organizational contexts have a greater impact on leadership expression than other personal characteristics.