Purpose: This paper sets out to posit that the new economy places a new set of demands on schools and those who lead. Mindfulness, intentional engagement of people and adaptive confidence are needed developmental features of beginning principal success. The paper examines how beginning principals in Canada respond to the capacity-building work of leading learning communities. Design/methodology/approach: The paper examines data from a number of Canadian studies of beginning principalship and makes sense of these data using learning community and leadership literature. Findings: Beginning principals must create a learning community culture that sustains and develops trust, collaboration, risk taking, reflection, shared leadership, and data-based decision making. Mindfulness, engaging people in capacity building and the development of adaptive confidence are key features of new principal maturation. Originality/value: Beginning principals need to first develop personal, then collective efficacy, as well as mindfulness of their own learning and the learning culture. Further, beginning principals must intentionally engage people in acts of capacity building, together with conveying adaptive confidence in order to effectively foster professional learning communities.