The purpose of this research was to explore the leadership identity development and preparedness for the role of new appointed school heads to Mexican primary schools that serve indigenous students. The research was framed as a qualitative study and used semi-structured interviews as the method for data collection with twelve appointed school heads by the new system of promotion implemented in 2015. The study was carried out to the highest ethical standards in educational research with anonymity, confidentiality, consent, and respect for the participants observed at all times. This research found that new appointed Mexican school heads in primary schools are assigned to the post with different levels of leadership development. Based on the previous experiences new appointed school heads bring to the job, three different profiles were identified: an Extended classroom teacher profile, a managerial profile, and in few cases a leadership for learning profile.