Research by Grace, G. R. (2002. "Catholic Schools: Mission, Markets, and Morality." London: Routledge/Falmer) and Wilkin, R. 2014. ("'Interpreting the Tradition': A Research Report." "International Studies in Catholic Education" 6 (2): 164-177) has drawn attention to the importance of spiritual capital amongst Catholic school head teachers and the possibility of its generational decline. This small-scale study seeks to understand the aspiration and formation of the next generation of Catholic school leaders. It found that there is a need for positive models of headship and a desire for leadership formation that is practical, relevant and yet equips future leaders with knowledge of the Catholic tradition, knowledge that they may lack in comparison with earlier generations of head teachers brought up in a more influential Catholic culture. The findings point to a need for well-resourced, school-based formation in which head teachers play an important role and which allows time for prayerful contemplation, in addition to sufficient theoretical content to allow future leaders to look outside their immediate school context to the wider mission of Catholic education.