Employees are the most important part to achieve the goals of a company or organization. So that the company runs effectively and efficiently, the company needs employees who are in accordance with the principle of "the right man in the right office". To achieve the goals of the company or organization, the first step taken is to recruit prospective employees according to the qualifications of the company or organization, which will improve employee performance results while in a company or organization.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not there is an influence of a principal's leadership and work discipline on the performance of a teacher at SMP Negeri 8 Padang. This research includes qualitative research in the form of case studies. Those appointed as resource persons are teachers and school principals, whose data is taken by conducting observations, interviews, and documentation. The results obtained from this study are 1) The principal's leadership style acts in teacher performance. The effectiveness of a principal's leadership style can motivate teacher performance in schools, 2) Work discipline plays an important role for teacher performance, because whether or not the teacher's discipline attitude will make teachers have the will to comply with the rules that have been made by the school, and 3 ) Teacher performance and work discipline can increase if the leadership style of a school principal is effective. So the interaction between the principal's leadership style and work discipline affects the performance of teachers in schools.