This study aimed to measure the effect of authentic leadership on performance of private higher education lecturers in Tangerang which are mediated by lecturer engagement. Data collection was done by simple random sampling to the private higher education lecturer population in Tangerang. The returned and valid questionnaire results were 231 samples. Data processing was used SEM method with SmartPLS 3.0 software. The results of this study concluded that authentic leadership have a positive and significant effect on the lecturer performance, both directly and indirectly through mediating lecturer engagement. This new research proposed a model for building the lecturer performance among the private higher education lecturers in Tangerang through enhancing authentic leadership with lecturer engagement as a mediator. This research could pave the way to improve lecturer readiness in facing the era of education 4.0.