Akhlaq-Centered Executive Coaching: Reframing Principal Development Beyond Transformational Leadership in Indonesian Islamic Higher Education Institutions (PTKIN)

Abstract

This study proposes the Akhlaq-Centered Executive Coaching (ACEC) framework as a novel approach to principal development in Indonesian Islamic higher education institutions (PTKIN). Despite rapid institutional growth, evidenced by 59 PTKIN nationally, a 160 percent increase in Unggul accreditation, and four UINs entering the QS Asia University Rankings 2026, no structured and epistemologically coherent leadership development programme for PTKIN principals exists in either national policy or academic literature. Employing a qualitative multiple case study design across 2 to 3 purposively selected UIN institutions with 12 to 18 participants, and analysing data through Braun and Clarke's (2022) reflexive thematic analysis, this conceptual study identifies three constitutive themes of the ACEC framework: the reconstitution of Akhlaq and Adab as epistemological core rather than cultural supplement; the reframing of executive coaching as institutionalised muhasabah; and the paradigm shift from competency acquisition (Aa'lim) to character formation (Tarbiyah). The framework directly challenges the dominance of transformational leadership in PTKIN leadership discourse by demonstrating that Islamic ethical philosophy, drawn from Ibn Miskawayh and al-Ghazali, can serve as the generative source of a rigorous and implementable professional development methodology. The ACEC framework contributes a decolonised, Islamic-epistemology-rooted alternative to principal development that is simultaneously professionally robust and aligned with the civilisational mission of PTKIN.