This presentation will discuss the findings of my 2019-2021 doctoral research which addressed leadership traits, personal leadership resources (PLRs), and successful school leadership in mainland China. The study focused on secondary school principals at bilingual and international schools in Guangzhou, China. Exploring what perceived leadership traits and resources principals embody and how they help secondary international school principals address the dynamic challenges of the role provides a framework for leadership discussions, reflection, and purposeful development of some traits or PLRs thought to be innate. The presentation will be applicable to primary and secondary school principals and school leaders (including human resources) in China and Asia. The presentation will also touch on emotional intelligence, building school culture and community, and transformational, charismatic, and distributed leadership.