Posted on Dec 16, 2013

The Different Aspects of Ambition in Business

When it comes to athletics, the most ambitious players carry celebrity-like status. This seems to be true across all major sports. And the best-of-the-best in the world are awarded and acknowledged at the Olympics.

Most universities encourage their students to be ambitious, in both their area of discipline and in life. Students are taught that if they want to achieve their dreams, they must be ambitious.

Even successful political leaders are credited for their ambition. Just think of the mythology taught to young children across America: “You too can become President of the United States, if you really want to.” All you need is a little ambition.

But what about in business?

It’s here that ambition is most commonly associated. While shareholders might enjoy the fruits of ambition, the benefits of this value go much further.

Ambition is an important value for any business to achieve its stated vision. It’s the value most often credited when entrepreneurs manage to build a billion dollar business, especially when it creates hundreds or even thousands of jobs, and adds tremendous value to the communities in which it serves.

Ambition in Business

As a differentiating value, ambition means a strong drive for success; or a cherished desire. In business, this can be portrayed in a few different ways.

A few companies directly reference ambition as a core value, such as Pinsent Masons, an international legal firm, based in the UK. They define this value as:

Being ambitious for the success of our business and ourselves; challenging ourselves, innovating, thinking beyond conventions and striving to achieve excellence in everything we do.

Other companies reference ambition in the context of competing to win, such as Amgen, a biotechnology firm focused on addressing unmet medical needs. They define it this way:

We compete against time, past performance and industry rivals to rapidly achieve high quality results. Winning requires taking risks. We cannot be lulled into complacency by previous achievements. Though we compete intensely, we maintain high ethical standards and demand integrity in our dealings with competitors, customers, partners and each other.

However, the most common reference to ambition in business is under the guise of achieving results. From Kellogg’s (food) to CSC (IT services) to Ally (financial services), the drive to succeed – and deliver results – is clearly a fundamental part of corporate values.

Putting Boundaries Around Ambition

Ambition is good. But what happens when this value is taken too far?

In sports, overly ambitious players may cheat and use steroids. This not only hurts the athlete, but also potentially hurts others (i.e. fans) who follow their lead. And it damages the credibility of the game itself.

In politics, or more precisely the leaders of government, ambition gone amuck can lead to disastrous consequences, including major conflicts and even war – both internally and externally.

And in business, ambition taken too far frequently leads to unethical decisions and behavior. Whether it is attributed to greed, power, or just poor decision-making, if ambition is not monitored and kept in check, it can lead to the downfall of businesses of all size (e.g. Enron and WorldCom). It hurts the people who lose their jobs. It hurts customers, shareholders, and even the economy as a whole.

In other words, ambition is good as long as it doesn’t cross the line of ethics or cause harm to others.