Leadership attributes are a fundamental aspect of organizational success. It is argued here that children’s academic performance is linked to the individual leadership characteristics of school principals.  School principals promote and enhance positive attitudes toward school, increasing student engagement, and ultimately improving academic performance. This paper sought to examine the contribution of individual leadership attributes to children’s academic performance. Eleven individual leadership attributes: dependability, straight forwardness, fair-mindedness, inspirational, forward thinking, competence, honesty, creativity, supportiveness, intelligence and broad mindedness, are considered. This study adopted the Trait and Skills theories of leadership attributed to Thomas Carlyle and Mumford et al. A mixed methods research approach was employed.