Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the socialisation and leader identity development of school leaders in Southern African countries. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilised a survey of qualitative data where data collection primarily involved in-depth interviews with school principals and deputy principals of both primary and secondary schools. Findings: Findings revealed that early socialisation to leadership transpired during childhood and early schooling at which points in time the characteristics and values of leadership integral to the participants' leadership practice were acquired. Initial teacher training was found to be significant in introducing principalship role conception. Leader identity was also found to develop outside the context of school through pre-socialising agents long before the teaching and leading roles are assumed. Originality/value: The study presents an overview of the findings from four countries in Southern Africa, providing a complex process with overlapping stages of career socialisation. Existing research puts emphasis on formal leadership preparation as a significant part of socialisation -- this study suggests alternatives for poorly resourced countries. Significantly, the paper improves our understanding that school leader identity is both internal and external to the school environment.