This study illuminates the leadership experiences of undergraduate business students undertaking a 1-year work placement. Semi-structured interviews and reflective journals were used to explore the students' leadership experiences before and during their placement. Through reflection on these experiences, students were able to make sense of their own leadership learning as well as develop their leadership identity. A main contribution of this study has been the formulation of a theoretical model that fully acknowledges prior lived experience, and the multi-layered and complex process of leadership identity development.