Given the impact of low birth rates and education reform, formulating new ideas on principal leadership is crucial for enhancing school performance. Accountability leadership, which emphasizes concepts such as responsibility, commitment-trust, openness, consistency, active response, and empowerment, is an emerging leadership theory in the corporate domain that can inspire new principal leadership models. This study investigates concepts and theories related to accountability leadership and how this type of leadership inspires principal leadership. In particular, we first explore the meaning of accountability leadership and then analyze the content of principal accountability leadership. Subsequently, the theoretical bases of accountability leadership, and the importance of principal leadership are elucidated. Finally, this study summarizes the implications of accountability leadership for principal leadership, and provides a conclusion.