Strategic Planning, Transformational Leadership and Organization Performance: Driving Forces for Sustainability in Higher Education in Nigeria

Leadership is crucial to moving society and organizations from one stage to another. Strategic planning is required to sustain the quality of education due to the changing features of students and the construction of many higher educational institutions in Nigeria. However, because higher education is evolving, leaders’ strategic thinking constantly shifts. This study examines the effect of strategic planning on transformational leadership towards attaining the organizational performance of higher education institutions in Nigeria. This study used a sample of 388 staff from 48 state universities in Nigeria. The findings indicate that strategic planning positively influences transformational leadership and organizational performance. Moreover, transformational leadership positively mediates strategic planning and organizational performance. We empirically validate the role of strategic planning in enhancing the performance of higher education institutions. Also, strategic-planning-focused and transformational leadership processes can be critical for facilitating the proper guidelines to improve higher education institutions’ performance.