This article provides an overview of the "Carpe Vitam: Leadership for Learning" project, accounting for its provenance and purposes, before focusing on the principles for practice that constitute an important part of the project's legacy. These principles framed the dialogic process that was a dominant feature of the project and are presented, explained and illustrated in the article. The account concludes with a brief discussion about the use of principles and illustrative vignettes as resources for further development.