Presenting the Competency Model of Cultural Managers from the Perspective of Nahj al-Balagha

The Islamic Republic of Iran, as the flagship of the modern Islamic civilization, should pay special attention to culture, especially by cultural managers who play a crucial and sensitive role. One of the most important books that can guide cultural managers is Nahj al-Balagha. In this book, the fields of management, methods of governance, and their missions are appropriately explained in the words of Imam Ali (as). This study aims to present the competency model of cultural managers from the perspective of Nahj al-Balagha.

This study, in terms of its applied objective, uses a qualitative and theoretical framework, and applies a library method to extract and analyze data through extracting excerpts from Nahjul Balagha, including Imam Ali’s sermons, letters, and wisdom. The obtained data were then analyzed and categorized through content analysis. To validate the data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 cultural experts and university professors who were purposefully selected through targeted sampling. Finally, the data were classified and analyzed.

The findings of this study from Nahj al-Balagha, which is extracted from Atlas ti8 software, indicate that there are three dimensions that have been categorized and analyzed through interviews with the community of research experts: (a) individual cultural dimension, with self-management and self-efficacy components, religious commitment, moral strengthening, spiritual strengthening, and positive thinking (b) specialized-skills dimension, with components of future orientation, management ability and art, skill and support of employees (c) religious-values dimension, with components of courage and decisiveness of future managers, righteousness, respect for the rights of others, friendliness towards people, and having ideals.

According to the findings, it is suggested that these dimensions should be included in the agenda of policymakers for the selection and appointment of managers, especially cultural managers.