In the competitive landscape of modern business, ambition serves as both catalyst and compass for executive careers. Yet, what constitutes ambition and how it manifests changes throughout a leader's professional journey. Our experience working with leaders globally across industries supported by a body of academic research, reveals that ambition is far from static. Rather, it evolves in focus, expression, and purpose as executives mature and grow.
The Metamorphosis of Ambition
Early career ambition typically operates on two fundamental levels. First is the pragmatic necessity of establishing financial security be it paying rent, reducing student loan debt, and creating basic economic stability. This drive represents what Maslow identified as the pursuit of safety and security. Second is the professional dimension centered on achievement, advancement, and acquisition by climbing the corporate ladder, securing titles and compensation, and establishing professional credibility. Research by Kanfer and Ackerman (2004) demonstrates that younger professionals often define success through these concrete, measurable outcomes. The psychological drive during this phase aligns with McClelland's (1961) need for achievement theory, where personal accomplishment serves as the primary motivation.
As individuals reach mid-career, a subtle yet significant shift begins. Leaders with 10-15 years of experience increasingly prioritize influence over mere advancement (Seibert et al, 2016). This transition marks a crucial inflection point where ambition expands beyond personal achievement to encompass organizational impact.
"The mature executive realizes that career fulfillment comes not from position alone, but from the capacity to effect meaningful change," notes Ibarra (2015) in her research on leadership transitions. This insight reflects the evolution from what psychologists term competitive ambition to collaborative ambition, where success becomes defined less by outperforming others and more by enabling collective achievement.
From Authority to Influence
Mid-career professionals often discover the limitations of formal authority. As Keltner's (2016) work on power dynamics reveals, positional authority frequently proves less effective for driving lasting change than cultivated influence. This realization prompts a redefinition of ambition toward developing networks of influence (Cialdini, 2016), relationships built on trust, respect, and mutual value that extend beyond organizational hierarchies.
Our work with executives shows that effective leaders develop and achieve their ambitions through influence rather than control. They recognize that meaningful organizational transformation stems from their ability to shape culture, inspire commitment, and align diverse stakeholders around shared objectives. Grant (2013) supports this observation, demonstrating that leadership effectiveness correlates more strongly with influencing skills than with authoritative behaviors.
This transition represents a maturation of ambition from externally-validated success to internally-derived impact. As Higgins (2005) notes, many executives shift from a promotion focus (pursuing gains and advancement) to a prevention focus (protecting organizational value and ensuring sustainable success). This evolution reflects deeper psychological integration where ambition becomes less about proving oneself and more about expressing one's authentic leadership voice.
The Legacy Dimension
Perhaps the most profound transformation occurs as executives approach the latter stages of their careers. Here, ambition increasingly incorporates what Erikson's developmental theory identifies as generativity, the desire to guide future generations and leave a positive imprint beyond one's career (McAdams & de St. Aubin, 1992). This dimension of ambition transcends organizational boundaries, reflecting broader questions of purpose, meaning, and contribution.
This evolution aligns with Jungian theory, which suggests that the second half of life naturally shifts toward individuation and self-actualization. Jung proposed that while the first half of life is appropriately focused on establishing oneself in the external world, building careers, families, and social identities, the second half involves a turning inward and integration of previously unexplored aspects of self (Jung, 1933). For executives, this transition often manifests as decreased concern with external validation and greater focus on authentic self-expression, wisdom development, and contributions aligned with deeper personal values.
A comprehensive study by Torbert and Rooke (2005) found that approximately 15% of senior executives reach what they term strategist or alchemist levels, where ambition becomes focused on creating lasting systems change and cultivating future leadership capacity. At these stages, executives become increasingly concerned with succession planning, mentorship, and establishing enduring organizational cultures that outlast their tenure.
The legacy dimension of executive ambition manifests in several ways:
- Knowledge transfer: Experienced executives become increasingly motivated to codify and share their accumulated wisdom, often through mentoring programs, leadership development initiatives, or thought leadership.
- Values perpetuation: Senior leaders grow more deliberate about embedding core values and ethical frameworks within organizational structures to ensure continuity of purpose.
- Impact extension: Legacy-focused ambition drives executives to build sustainable organizations capable of creating value beyond their own leadership timeframe.
- Field advancement: Many seasoned executives redirect ambition toward industry development through involvement in governing bodies, industry associations, or academic partnerships.
Executives who successfully navigate this transition toward legacy-oriented ambition often report higher levels of career satisfaction and psychological well-being. Their ambition becomes less ego-driven and more purpose-oriented, creating what psychologists term eudemonic well-being, fulfillment derived from meaningful contribution rather than hedonic pleasure (Cooper et al, 2018).
Navigating the Journey
The evolution of executive ambition rarely follows a linear trajectory. Our coaching practice reveals that this transformation often involves psychological tension as leaders reconcile earlier definitions of success with emerging aspirations. Ibarra's (2018) work on identity transitions highlights the cognitive and emotional adjustments required as executives redefine their relationship with ambition.
For organizations, understanding this evolutionary process offers significant advantages in talent development and succession planning. Leadership development programs acknowledging ambition's changing nature prove more effective at retaining senior talent and facilitating smooth executive transitions (Day et al, 2014).
The Role of Executive Coaching in Career Evolution
Executive coaching serves as a useful catalyst for intentional career development as ambitions evolve. Developmental coaching significantly increases leaders' capacity to navigate complex transitions in professional identity and purpose (Kegan and Lahey, 2016). Coaching provides several essential functions in this developmental journey:
- Creating reflective space: In the demanding pace of executive life, dedicated time for structured reflection becomes increasingly scarce yet ever more necessary. Coaching establishes protected psychological space for examining motivations, values, and assumptions underlying career choices. This reflective practice activates what Schön (1983) termed double-loop learning, the ability to question and revise the fundamental frameworks guiding professional decisions.
- Facilitating purpose alignment: As executives evolve from achievement-oriented to purpose-driven ambition, coaching conversations help identify authentic sources of meaning and contribution.
- Navigating identity transitions: The evolution of ambition often requires substantial identity work. Coaching provides structured support for executives to safely experiment with new definitions of success and leadership. This process helps executives integrate their achievement drive with emerging desires for influence and legacy.
- Strategic legacy planning: For senior executives, coaching facilitates the development of concrete legacy strategies, intentional approaches to knowledge transfer, succession planning, and institutional impact. This form of coaching addresses both psychological preparation for legacy stages and practical implementation of generative leadership practices.
- Integrating competing ambitions: Rather than positioning achievement and legacy as mutually exclusive, coaching helps executives develop paradoxical thinking, the capacity to hold seemingly contradictory ambitions simultaneously. This integration allows executives to pursue current performance excellence while building sustainable organizational capacity.
Our coaching approach at MindsOpen emphasizes that career purpose is not simply discovered but actively constructed through iterative cycles of reflection, experimentation, and integration. By supporting executives in becoming more deliberate architects of their ambition evolution, coaching enables more authentic leadership expression and more meaningful career trajectories.
Conclusion
The changing nature of executive ambition reflects a sophisticated interplay between psychological development, organizational context, and life stage considerations. From achievement to influence to legacy, this evolution represents not a diminishment of ambition but rather its maturation into increasingly complex and meaningful forms.
By helping leaders acknowledge and align their evolving ambitions with both organizational needs and personal values, coaching enable more authentic leadership, smoother succession processes, and ultimately more sustainable organizational success.
Understanding ambition not as a fixed drive but as an evolving orientation allows executives to maintain motivation while finding deeper purpose in their leadership journey. The most successful senior leaders neither abandon ambition nor remain fixated on its early expressions; instead, they transform it into a force for meaningful impact that extends well beyond their individual careers.
References
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Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., Holtom, B. C., & Pierotti, A. J. (2016). A longitudinal model of career success: Moving beyond the predictors to understand the outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(3), 349-368.
Torbert, W. R., & Rooke, D. (2005). Seven transformations of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 83(4), 66-76.
