Ambition vs. Leadership Effectiveness: Insights from Research and Practice

Ambition has long been considered a driving force behind leadership. However, the assumption that ambitious individuals naturally make effective leaders is increasingly challenged by both research and practical insights. Combining the findings from the article “A Legend in One’s Own Mind: The Link Between Ambition and Leadership Evaluations” with the insights from the Stanford Graduate School of Business piece, “Don’t Confuse Ambition with Effective Leadership,” offers a nuanced understanding of this complex relationship. Together, these works emphasize that ambition and effectiveness are not synonymous, urging organizations to rethink leadership selection and development.

The Double-Edged Sword of Ambition

Ambition, often defined as the relentless pursuit of success, plays a crucial role in leadership emergence. Ambitious individuals are more likely to self-select into leadership roles, driven by external rewards like power, status, and wealth. As highlighted in the research by Shilaan Alzahawi, Emily S. Reit, and Francis J. Flynn, ambition can fuel confidence, persistence, and the drive needed to climb organizational hierarchies. Similarly, the Stanford GSB article underscores that ambition provides the motivation to seize opportunities, overcome challenges, and inspire others to push boundaries.

However, both sources reveal a fundamental disconnect between ambition and leadership effectiveness. While ambition may secure a leadership role, it does not guarantee the qualities necessary to thrive in it. The research shows that ambitious leaders often overestimate their capabilities, with self-perceptions of effectiveness not aligning with evaluations from peers, subordinates, or managers. This discrepancy, driven by cognitive biases like the “above-average effect,” highlights the risks of equating ambition with competence.

Why Ambition Alone Falls Short

Ambitious leaders are frequently motivated by extrinsic rewards rather than intrinsic goals tied to collective success or organizational well-being. The Stanford GSB article warns against confusing the drive for personal achievement with the ability to lead effectively. True leadership requires humility, empathy, and the capacity to build trust—qualities that ambitious individuals may lack if their focus is solely on their own advancement.

Moreover, ambition can undermine collaboration. Overly ambitious leaders may prioritize their individual goals over team objectives, leading to strained relationships and reduced trust. This finding aligns with Alzahawi et al.’s research, which highlights that ambitious leaders are no more effective than their less ambitious peers in areas like motivating teams, managing collaboration, or coaching subordinates.

Coaching: Bridging the Gap Between Ambition and Effectiveness

Both sources emphasize the critical role of structured development processes, like coaching, in bridging the gap between ambition and leadership effectiveness. Coaching provides leaders with the tools to develop self-awareness, a vital skill for addressing blind spots in their leadership style. Ambitious leaders often overestimate their capabilities, and coaching offers a safe, reflective space to recalibrate these perceptions, ensuring their actions align with their organizational impact.

Coaching also helps foster humility and empathy—qualities often lacking in highly ambitious individuals focused on personal success. By guiding leaders to better understand their teams’ needs and perspectives, coaching strengthens their capacity for collaboration, trust-building, and long-term effectiveness.

In parallel, coaching is an essential mechanism for nurturing high-potential individuals who may not naturally gravitate toward leadership roles. Many of these individuals possess intrinsic motivations to lead, driven by collective success and prosocial impact rather than personal gain. Coaching can help instill the confidence and skills these individuals need, ensuring their leadership potential is fully realized.

The Path Forward: Recalibrating Leadership Selection

Both works advocate for a shift in how organizations evaluate and cultivate leadership talent. Instead of relying on ambition as a proxy for potential, organizations should focus on evidence-based indicators of effectiveness. This includes fostering self-awareness among leaders, encouraging humility, and prioritizing intrinsic motivators like commitment to collective goals.

Coaching emerges as a cornerstone of this approach. It not only aligns leaders’ self-perceptions with reality but also develops their ability to motivate, collaborate, and lead with purpose. By integrating coaching into leadership development frameworks, organizations can create a pipeline of leaders who are both ambitious and effective.

Conclusion

Ambition and leadership effectiveness are not inherently aligned. While ambition can fuel a leader’s rise, it is no substitute for the skills, empathy, and humility required to excel in a leadership role. The integration of these two sources highlights a critical need for organizations to rethink leadership selection and development, moving beyond surface-level traits to identify and nurture leaders who can truly make a positive impact. Coaching plays a pivotal role in this transformation, ensuring that leaders are not just prepared to climb the ranks but are equipped to lead with integrity, empathy, and purpose.

Alzahawi, S., Reit, E. S., & Flynn, F. J. (2024). A legend in one’s own mind: The link between ambition and leadership evaluations, PNAS Nexus, Volume 3, Issue 8, August 2024, pgae295, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae295.

Kinni, T. (2025, January 15). Don’t confuse ambition with effective leadership. Stanford Graduate School of Business. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/dont-confuse-ambition-effective-leadership

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