Ambition: what do you really want next?
Have you ever achieved something you worked hard for, only to wonder, is this it?
I certainly have.
I remember reaching the top of my field in international development, working as Country Economist for Somalia. I was on a Civil Service career path that could have taken me into increasingly senior roles.
I should have felt successful, fulfilled and impactful.
But my heart wasn't in it.
I cared about the work, but I was frustrated by the pace of change, the impact I could have and the lack of freedom. I knew I was capable of taking the next step. I just didn't want to.
And I had absolutely no idea what I wanted instead.
Eventually, I realised I wanted to return to the private sector. Then I spotted a job with Intrepid Travel.
Oh, hello!
Here was a business that was adventurous, fun and committed to making a positive impact. I believed one of the best ways to contribute to economic development in Africa was to create jobs, and suddenly I could see a way to do that.
A few years later, I was Managing Director of Intrepid's Sub-Saharan Africa business, based in Nairobi, leading a brilliant team and doing work I loved.
When a colleague in Melbourne suggested I'd surely want my boss's job next, I couldn't think of anything worse!
Not because it wasn't a great job, but because it would take me further away from where the impact was happening.
And Melbourne was just too bloody clean, and had too many rules!
I loved Nairobi, the freedom, the challenges and the fulfilment I got from the work. A bigger job wasn't necessarily a better one for me.
Ambition isn't always about moving up
When I partnered with an executive coach for the first time, I was blown away by the experience. I thought, Oh my God, everyone needs one of these wonderful people in their ear!
That excitement eventually led me to create Lead Powerful Impact.
In June 2020, my very first paying coaching client asked me, in one of our early sessions:
"This isn't it, is it, Mehalah?"
My immediate thought was, Dear God, give me a chance. You're my first client!
Six and a half years later, I'm still here, still ambitious, and still open to what my business might become.
It's much closer to my own version of success. I get to make an impact, lead, learn, create, enjoy freedom and do work I find fulfilling.
I still put barriers in my own way, of course. But at least I know I'm the one putting them there, and I can take them down again.
What I've learned is that ambition doesn't have to mean chasing the next achievement. It can mean creating more of what matters to you.
And what matters can change.
What would you really love?
Coaching ambitious leaders, I'm continually struck by how differently people answer that question.
In one leadership team I coached, several directors surprised themselves by admitting they'd love to become Managing Director one day, including the Operations Director.
They hadn't really considered it possible until we started exploring what they wanted.
All I'd done was ask.
Another leader I coached was an exceptional manager, someone whose team would probably have loved her to keep leading them forever.
But when she had the space to explore what she genuinely wanted, she found herself talking excitedly about spending time in a technical team, developing the problem-solving skills she'd taught herself.
She wanted to learn, get into the detail and geek out for a while.
That surprised her too.
Both leaders were ambitious. Their ambitions just looked very different.
And I meet plenty of leaders whose greatest ambition is to work less while having more impact through others. They want their teams to step up, make decisions and move things forward without everything depending on them.
That's not a lack of ambition. It's a different expression of it.
When will you give your own ambitions some attention?
Most senior leaders I coach are brilliant at responding to what's expected of them.
Their teams, bosses, investors and customers all have demands on their time. The day-to-day fills the diary, and their own ambitions get pushed into a quieter period that never quite arrives.
Next quarter. Over Christmas. When things settle down in the summer.
It's one of the reasons leaders invest in coaching. They want space to think about what they genuinely want, rather than spending all their attention on what everyone else needs.
I think of a partner in an architecture firm who enjoyed their job and was very good at it.
But when we explored what they'd love life to look like in three or five years, the excitement wasn't about another professional achievement.
It was about side projects, interests outside work, having more time to enjoy life and a team that could step up without their involvement in everything.
Their ambition extended well beyond their working life.
I see this in visioning conversations with senior leaders again and again. They love their work, but when we explore what would genuinely excite them about the future, much of what they describe has little to do with their job.
Are you excited about where you're going?
There's nothing wrong with wanting a bigger business, a more senior role, greater influence or a bold new challenge.
But ambition can also mean having more freedom, developing others, learning something new or creating a life you enjoy more.
You don't have to know exactly what comes next to recognise what matters to you.
And you can be ambitious and fulfilled by what you're doing today.
When I think about ambition, three questions stand out:
Are you clear about what your next level of success would look like for you, rather than simply what might look good on paper?
Are you giving enough attention to what you genuinely want next, rather than simply what's expected of you?
Are you genuinely excited about where you're going next?
They're three of the questions in The Next Level Scorecard, my free 3-minute assessment for ambitious leaders.
It explores five dimensions of success: Ambition, Impact, Leadership, Freedom and Fulfilment, helping you see where you're already thriving and where there might be more available to you.
Your next level of success doesn't have to look like anyone else's. The important thing is that it's one you genuinely want.
Impactfully,
Mehalah Beckett is an executive, team and business coach, and the founder of Lead Powerful Impact, a certified B-Corp.
She works with purpose-driven leaders and sustainable businesses who want to move beyond performance, lead with clarity and self-trust, and create impact without burning out.
Find out more at Lead Powerful Impact | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
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