For the last few decades, leadership standards have served as a de facto "recommended curriculum" for preparation programs in the United States. In this article, we: (1) share the new National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) standards, (2) present the literature supporting the standards, and (3) critically assess the influence of standards in shaping leadership preparation and future leaders. Building from the contention that standards-based preparation socializes rather than educates, we argue that the NELP standards provide adequate guidance for preparing leaders for the world as it currently exists but not for imagining and creating their own futures.