The Effect of Leadership Antecedents on School Leaders’ Decision-Making: The Mediating Role of Strategic Thinking

Introduction: Educational leadership today faces mounting complexity, requiring school leaders to make rapid yet well-reasoned decisions that influence institutional success. Existing leadership development programmes, such as the National Professional Qualification for Educational Leadership (NPQEL), emphasise strategic thinking and performance; however, the specific psychological and behavioural traits that underpin decision-making remain underexplored. This study aims to investigate how self-efficacy (a psychological trait) and ambidextrous leadership (a behavioural trait) influence school leaders’ decision-making, with strategic thinking examined as a mediating cognitive process. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory and Trait Theory, the research addresses a key gap in understanding how internal beliefs and adaptive leadership behaviours translate into decision-making competence through strategic cognition. Methods: A quantitative research design was employed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The sample comprised 275 school leaders across Malaysia who completed the NPQEL programme between 2018 and 2020. Data were analysed to test both direct effects and mediating pathways within a hypothesised structural model. Results: The findings indicate that both self-efficacy and ambidextrous leadership significantly predict decision-making capability. Importantly, strategic thinking was found to partially mediate these relationships, suggesting that school leaders with greater emotional and behavioural adaptability leverage strategic cognition to make more effective decisions. These results reinforce the necessity for leadership programmes to move beyond technical training by incorporating strategies that foster psychological resilience and strategic cognitive development. Conclusion: The study contributes to the theoretical advancement of educational leadership by integrating emotional, behavioural, and cognitive dimensions into a unified model of decision-making. Practically, it offers evidence-based insights for policymakers and educational institutions to enhance leadership preparation for complexity, ambiguity, and outcome-driven environments.