Articles / What Are Leadership Principles? Essential Values That Guide Leaders
Leadership Theories & ModelsDiscover what leadership principles are and why they matter. Learn essential values and guidelines that shape effective leadership behaviour.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Sat 10th January 2026
Leadership principles are fundamental guidelines or beliefs that shape how leaders think, act, and make decisions—serving as "north stars" that help leaders stay aligned with their values, foster trust, and create lasting impact, with research showing that organisations with well-defined values see 115% higher employee engagement. Understanding and embodying these principles transforms leadership from reactive management into purposeful guidance.
Every effective leader operates from a foundation of principles, whether explicitly articulated or intuitively applied. These guiding beliefs determine how leaders respond to challenges, treat people, allocate resources, and pursue objectives. The most impactful leaders not only understand their principles but communicate and model them consistently, creating cultures where values drive behaviour.
This guide examines what leadership principles are, why they matter, and how to develop and apply them effectively in your leadership practice.
Clear definition enables meaningful application.
"Leadership principles are fundamental guidelines or beliefs that shape how leaders think, act, and make decisions. They serve as 'north stars' that help leaders stay aligned with their values, foster trust, and create lasting impact."
Core characteristics:
| Principles | Rules |
|---|---|
| Broad guidance | Specific requirements |
| Interpret for context | Apply literally |
| Enduring values | Changeable policies |
| Internal motivation | External compliance |
| Guide judgment | Dictate action |
"In high-stakes situations where there's no clear playbook, leaders regularly face tough choices with steep trade-offs. In these moments, personal core values can be a powerful, underutilized guide for making decisions and executing them."
Principles provide:
The impact of principled leadership is substantial.
"A Leadership IQ study of 4,360 employees and leaders found that employees are 115% more engaged when their organization has a well-defined set of values."
Engagement benefits:
"Values lie at the heart of effective leadership, serving as the foundation for decisions and organizational cultures."
Decision benefits:
"A robust set of core values as a leader helps build respect and trust among your team. This creates the foundation for you to influence your team, encouraging high performance and excellence positively."
Culture benefits:
Several principles appear consistently in leadership frameworks.
"Vision refers to knowing what your goals and objectives are and having a clear plan for achieving those goals. It is an important core value to every leader because they often effectively communicate to their team what the company's goals are and why they're important."
Vision in practice:
"A strong sense of integrity is important in leadership because your team members can develop trust and respect for what you say and what you do."
Integrity in practice:
"Instead of trying to keep all power and control for oneself, an effective leader empowers others and amplifies their own impact as a result. This empowerment can come from formal employee training, ongoing coaching, and workforce development."
Empowerment in practice:
"A culture of accountability starts where everyone on a team (including its leaders) understands what is expected of them and feels personally responsible for their objectives. Accountability is uniquely tied to seeking and receiving feedback."
Accountability in practice:
"Effective leaders prioritize clear communication with their team. Employees who understand the company's mission and how their tasks fit into broader goals are better able to succeed."
Communication in practice:
"Leaders are never done learning, and should always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them."
Learning in practice:
Creating personal principles requires deliberate reflection.
Discovery process:
Clear articulation:
Sample personal principles:
| Principle | Meaning |
|---|---|
| People First | Decisions consider human impact |
| Radical Honesty | Truth-telling even when uncomfortable |
| Growth Mindset | Learning from all experiences |
| Service Orientation | Leading to benefit others |
| Courageous Action | Acting despite fear |
Principles only matter when practiced.
Embedding principles:
"In high-stakes situations where there's no clear playbook, leaders regularly face tough choices with steep trade-offs. In these moments, personal core values can be a powerful, underutilized guide for making decisions and executing them."
Principles during challenge:
Connecting personal to organisational:
Organisational principles shape collective behaviour.
Several organisations prominently feature leadership principles:
Common organisational principles:
"Effective leaders articulate values—and live by them."
Bringing principles alive:
When principles need updating:
Obstacles require navigation.
When principles compete:
Resolution approaches:
When behaviour doesn't match principles:
Addressing gaps:
When context pressures compromise:
Maintaining integrity:
Leadership principles are fundamental guidelines or beliefs that shape how leaders think, act, and make decisions. They serve as north stars guiding behaviour, fostering trust, and creating lasting impact. Principles include values like integrity, vision, empowerment, accountability, and continuous learning that remain consistent across situations.
Leadership principles matter because organisations with well-defined values see significantly higher employee engagement (115% higher according to Leadership IQ research). Principles provide decision-making clarity, build trust through predictability, shape culture, attract aligned talent, and guide leaders through situations where rules don't apply.
Leadership principles and values are closely related but distinct. Values are core beliefs about what matters most (honesty, respect, excellence). Principles are actionable guidelines derived from values that direct behaviour ("always tell the truth even when uncomfortable"). Principles translate values into practical leadership guidance.
Develop leadership principles through reflection on peak experiences, identification of role models, consideration of non-negotiables, examination of strong reactions, and testing for consistency. Articulate principles in your own words, make them actionable, keep them memorable (5-7 maximum), and ensure they're genuine rather than merely aspirational.
Common leadership principles include vision (clear direction), integrity (honesty and consistency), empowerment (developing others), accountability (owning outcomes), communication (transparent sharing), and continuous learning (ongoing improvement). Effective leaders typically hold 5-7 core principles that guide their behaviour consistently.
Apply leadership principles by referencing them in decisions, explaining choices through the values lens, using principles in coaching conversations, connecting daily tasks to larger purpose, and celebrating values-aligned behaviour. During difficult situations, return to fundamentals and ask what principles require.
Leadership principles can evolve as understanding deepens, context changes, and experience accumulates. Core values typically remain stable whilst their expression may adapt. Regular reflection helps leaders refine principles without abandoning foundational beliefs. Principles that consistently prove inadequate may need reconsideration.