This research was carried out to determine the effect of instructional leadership and creative teaching as the main aspects in maximizing student input and potential, in order to achieve learning satisfaction and self-actualization for the educational success of students. The research examines the effect of principal instructional leadership and teaching creativity on self-actualization and its impact on student satisfaction. Across sectional study was used to determine the relationship between exogenous and endogenous variables. Respondents were 307 students on Madrasah Aliyah and Al-Kamal Kebumen Islamic Vocational High Schools, Indonesia. Data was collected using a questionnaire consisting of 4 indicators representing each variable. The research data was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the AMOS application. Out of 5 proposed hypotheses, 1 was rejected because of not fulfilling the Critical Ratio (CR) value > 1.96 and the p-value <0.05 criteria. The results showed that this model fulfilled the Goodness of Fit requirements in SEM analysis. It was evident that principal's instructional leadership and creative teaching affects student learning satisfaction. The results also showed that the principal's instructional leadership affects student self-actualization, while creative teaching has no direct effect unless it is mediated by learning satisfaction.