Abstract
The aim of this research is to validate and prioritize the organizing themes of the competency model of professional managers in the General Directorate of Education of Kerman Province. The present research is fundamental-applicable in terms of its purpose, and quantitative in terms of its implementation, and it is a survey research in terms of data collection. The statistical population of the present research includes all employees of the General Directorate of Education of Kerman Province, numbering 1048 people, of which 428 people (research model validity check) were selected using the systematic random sampling method and a questionnaire was distributed among them. The collection tool in the present research is a questionnaire. For data analysis, SPSS version 26, SMART PLS version 3, and EXCEL version 2019 software were used, and multi-criteria decision-making techniques (analytic hierarchy process) were utilized to prioritize the organizing theme of the variable model of the competencies of professional managers based on management in the Martyr Hajj Qasem Soleimani School. The results showed that the themes of "self-management and individual competence", "change-seeking in the organization", and "value competencies" had the most explanations in relation to the competencies of professional managers based on management in the Martyr Hajj Qasem Soleimani School in the General Directorate of Education of Kerman Province. Also, the organizing theme of "transformation in the organization" with a relative weight of 0.143 is in first place, the organizing theme of "acquiring jihadi culture" with a relative weight of 0.137 in second place, and the organizing theme of "self-management and individual competence" with a relative weight of 0.115 in third place of the importance of the competency model of professional managers based on management in the school of Martyr Hajj Qassem Soleimani.
Introduction
Managers, as the main decision-makers in dealing with organizational issues and problems, play a decisive and significant role in the success or even failure of their organization. Accordingly, all organizations, especially educational organizations, must use the most qualified people in the most appropriate job positions because this organization plays a decisive and sensitive role in the education and training of the country's future generations (Nosrati et al., 2021). Therefore, the recklessness, inefficiency, and incompetence of professional managers in education can cause irreparable damage to the country and jeopardize education and training, and most importantly, the cultivation of a creative and innovative future (Madani et al., 2022). Today, managers need a set of knowledge, skills, and personal characteristics to face the challenges facing business, and in an era of rapid change, new skills and competencies are needed for changing roles in organizations, and competency models provide a tool for determining what is needed now and in the future (Amirnajad & Mostafavi, 2022). The competencies of professional managers lead to productivity and cost reduction in the organization, and it should be acknowledged that the management and development of competencies are vital tools for increasing competitiveness in organizations, and the goal of the competency-based approach is to: determine the competencies required by superior individuals in key positions throughout the organization, try to eliminate competency gaps through effective selection and training, and ensure that worthy performance is recognized and rewarded (Rostami et al., 2023). Given the need for a standard and indigenous model, given the developments in the cultural, political, social, and industrial environments surrounding the Ministry of Education, in the present study, an attempt is made to design and develop a competency model for professional managers based on management in the school of Martyr Hajj Qasem Soleimani in the Ministry of Education, in order to professionalize managers, with the cooperation of experts in this profession, so that not only the country's experts and stakeholders can develop their knowledge and skills, but also qualified and competent individuals can be selected for important positions in the Ministry of Education (Alimardani & Pourkarimi, 2020). Therefore, this issue and question arises: how is the organizing themes of the competency model for professional managers in the General Directorate of Education of Kerman Province validated and prioritized?
Theoretical Framework
Managerial Competence
Professional managerial competence is a tool that represents a set of skills, knowledge, and personal characteristics along with managerial behaviors that are required for the effective functioning of a role or organization to achieve strategic business goals. Professional managerial competence represents the competencies required to achieve complete success or exemplary performance in a job, role, or organization. It is also an important decision-making tool in human resource management for recruitment, selection, training, and development processes, and performance management (Abbas Pour et al., 2020).
Saleh et al. (2025) studied the dimensions and components of the competence of managers in government organizations based on the iceberg model. The results showed that after integrating 30 different components, they were identified as the competence components of managers in government organizations and classified into 5 main dimensions of the iceberg model of competence, namely knowledge (with 4 components), skills (11 components), self-concept (3 components), personality traits (9 components) and motivations (3 components). Using an appropriate competency model and framework for selecting, developing and evaluating managers in government organizations paves the way for development at the organizational and national levels. Samadi et al. (2024) studied the presentation of a model of managerial competencies for women in industry (case study: Sabah Food Company). Based on the results of the qualitative analysis, six main categories of factors including contextual factors, causal conditions, pivotal phenomena, intervening factors, strategies, and consequences were identified as the main components of women's competency development. In this study, the establishment of women's management culture was reported as the most important background condition for women's competency development. Based on the results obtained, it was determined that the "glass ceiling" phenomenon was the most important intervening factor in the development of women's managers' competencies, women's empowerment was the most important strategy for developing women's managerial competency, and gender equality and women's career advancement were reported as the most important outcomes of developing women's competency, which is of great importance in terms of organizational management. 
Research Methodology
The present study is fundamental-applicable in terms of purpose, quantitative in terms of implementation, exploratory in terms of data collection, and a survey study. The statistical population of the present study includes all employees of the General Directorate of Education of Kerman Province, numbering 1048 people, of which 428 people (validation of the research model) were selected using the systematic random sampling method and a questionnaire was distributed among them. The collection tool in the present study is a questionnaire.
Research findings
SPSS version 26, SMART PLS version 3 and EXCEL version 2019 software was used to analyze the data, and multi-criteria decision-making techniques (analytical hierarchy process) was used to prioritize the organizing theme of the variable of the competency model of professional managers based on management in the Shahid Hajj Qasem Soleimani School. The results showed that the themes of "self-management and individual competence", "change-seeking in the organization" and "value-based competences" had the most explanations in relation to the competences of professional managers based on management in the school of Martyr Hajj Qasem Soleimani in the General Directorate of Education of Kerman Province. Also, the organizing theme of "change-seeking in the organization" with a relative weight of 0.143 ranked first, the organizing theme of "acquiring a jihadi culture" with a relative weight of 0.137 ranked second, and the organizing theme of "self-management and individual competence" with a relative weight of 0.115 ranked third in the importance of the competency model of professional managers based on management in the school of Martyr Hajj Qasem Soleimani.
Conclusion
The present study was conducted with the aim of validating and prioritizing the organizing themes of the competency model of professional managers in the General Directorate of Education of Kerman Province. The results of this study are consistent with the results of Saleh et al. (2025), Samadi et al. (2024), Rasouli et al. (2024), Deci (2023), Rezaei Yazdeli et al. (2023), Rostami et al. (2023), and Sargazi & Hoshyar (2022). Rasouli et al (2024) showed that the professional competency model of managers includes the enablers of skill competency, management competency, and professional ethics and behavior competencies, manager development, social characteristics of managers, establishment of working groups to improve performance and green competency, attitudinal competencies, knowledge competencies, educational competencies, competencies for commercialization of knowledge-skills and technology, high-performance spirit, reforming the consumption pattern, participating in development, and moving towards national authority, which lead to the realization of the results of high-performance spirit, reforming the consumption pattern, participating in development, moving towards national authority, managing diversity and abundance, and strengthening the relationship between humans and nature.
It is recommended that the managers of the General Directorate of Education of Kerman Province, in order to develop the competencies of professional managers based on the management of the Commander of Hearts, Hajj Qasem Soleimani, should include unity-building, creating a consultative atmosphere, bargaining power to resolve conflicts, avoiding negative competition, observing ethics in interacting with subordinates, serving the people, avoiding luxuries, generosity and kindness, honesty and truthfulness, decisiveness and courage, contentment and simplicity, keeping promises and conforming to speech, and the influence of speech and spirit-raising on their agenda.