Ambition vs. Leadership

I love reading nuggets from Simon Sinek. His quotes and books on leadership have certainly been influential in my life as a leader and on my ongoing development of leaders. Recently, I came across the quote below from his Linkedin account causing me to be reflective on not only my own career but on those who I’ve mentored (or not) or simply those I watched grow.

Although I’ve titled this blog post “Ambition vs. Leadership” it is not so much as an either/or decision. To be a successful leader, you need both! However, I think many of our leaders today focus more on their own ambition rather than on the true requirement of leadership, which is to serve others.

I climbed the education ladder fairly quickly. I went into school administration at 29, entered system administration at 39 and took on the role of Superintendent of Schools, which I held for 11 years, at the age of 47. While I loved teaching (and still do), my desire to move into administration was to have a larger impact on more students. Ambition drove me to obtain a graduate degree, enroll in numerous leadership courses to better myself, but the reason for pursuing administration was always about making a difference in the lives of students. Taking a page from Sinek, I always knew my why. I’d be pretty arrogant if I stated that I consistently knew my what and how or that I was never wrong in my leadership, but I did always know my why! While I’ve met a few educational leaders who lean more toward ambition than leadership, the list is small.

Strictly ambitious people are often more worried about title, rank and power. They tend to focus more on the position and less about how the position supports others. In my words…

“Leadership is a journey. Ambition is a destination!”

In Sinek’s…

Image result for simon sinek quotes on leadership

Serving others, while we believe we all do it, is just not that common in our world today. That is likely why leadership is harder than simple ambition and why we truly have so few aspirational leaders around the world or even in our own backyards. As I’ve written before, “If leadership was easy, we’d all do it!”

My point isn’t to unjustly dismiss ambition, as there are many great examples of the need for it. But ambition alone, is not enough to establish anybody as a true selfless leader.

In Alberta, municipal elections are a little over 8 months from now. Those elected positions NEED people who care about the act of leadership- serving others and not about their own personal gain and recognition. Leaders, regardless of whether they are elected, appointed or hired, need to understand that their role can never be about themselves but rather about those they serve. Don’t give up your desire to succeed if you want to lead, but always remember what your why is and that is to always serve others!