The Role of Effective Communication and Interpersonal Communication in Improving the Leadership Skills of Students as Prospective Quality Human Resources

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the influence of effective communication and interpersonal communication on the leadership abilities of students as prospective quality human resources. In the context of higher education, communication skills are one of the important aspects that determine the success of students in leading, coordinating, and building cooperation in an organizational environment. This study uses a quantitative approach with an associative descriptive method. The research population includes all active students who are members of student organizations at University X, with a total of 106 respondents selected through purposive sampling. Data collection was conducted using a closed-ended Likert scale questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using multiple linear regression through SPSS version 25.

The results of the study indicate that effective communication (X₁) and interpersonal communication (X₂) have a positive and significant effect on students' leadership abilities (Y), both partially and simultaneously. The coefficient of determination (R²) value of 0.856 shows that 85.6% of the variation in student leadership abilities is explained by these two variables, while the remaining 14.4% is influenced by other factors outside the model. These findings confirm that mastery of effective and interpersonal communication plays an important role in shaping adaptive, collaborative, and visionary student leaders. The results of this study are expected to serve as a reference for universities in designing soft skills development programs to improve the quality of student leadership in the future.