ABSTRACT
In this disruptive era, pesantren as the oldest educational institution in Indonesia threatened to be displaced by other educational institutions. Innovation in the leadership model is perceived to be one of the keys for pesantren to still exist in the educational sector. The goal of this article is to analyze that model. Hence, deep analysis through a multiple case study approach with interview technique is applied to catch critical issues regarding leadership model in pesantren. From the analysis result, pesantren leaders are applying entrepreneurial and situational leadership model to bring high competitiveness to pesantren and to create economic independence. Besides those models, there are other important elements of the distinctive leadership style in pesantren, namely “imamah” where the leader acts as a role model and is responsible, and “khilafah” where the leader becomes the motivator and supervisor for staff and students at the pesantren.
