'If you have too much drive, you could be a bulldozer,' says academic, recommending well-rounded employees for leadership positions
Ambition may help employees climb the corporate ladder, and many hiring managers assume that those who express the strongest desire to lead are naturally the best suited for leadership.
But new research from Stanford Graduate School of Business suggests otherwise: ambition alone is not a predictor of leadership effectiveness, and relying on it as a primary hiring criterion can lead to selecting candidates who lack key leadership competencies.
As the study suggests, when organizations depend too much on “ambitious” leaders without taking other qualities such as temperance and humility into account, it can lead to poor decision making with disastrous results.
“If you have too much drive, you could be a bulldozer,” says Dusya Vera, executive director of the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership at the Ivey Business School.
“You could be running over people. You’re so focused on this end result, or this goal that you have in mind, that you could be toxic. You could be a jerk.”
Ambition does not equal leadership effectiveness
The recent study conducted at Stanford found that highly ambitious individuals are four to 10 times more likely to believe they have above-average leadership abilities compared to less ambitious peers.
However, ratings from their managers, peers, and direct reports showed that ambitious individuals were not necessarily more effective leaders; in seven out of 10 leadership competencies studied, the perception gap between self-ratings and third-party ratings was significant.
As Vera explains, research at Ivey’s Institute for Leadership has found that leadership effectiveness is a balanced equation.
“This person not only needs to be driven but, for example, this person also has to be humble and practice humanity and practice accountability,” she says.
“So, if you are only ambitious … you may be uncaring about others, you may be vindictive. You may not be self aware.”
How to assess leadership character in hiring
To hire leaders who possess both competence and character, organizations should implement structured hiring processes that go beyond standard competency interviews, Vera says.
One effective strategy is the character interview – a method designed to evaluate a candidate’s integrity, accountability, and leadership potential through deeper, more revealing questions.
“It’s like peeling an onion,” Vera explains.
“You’re not asking the typical questions of ‘Tell me of a time when you had a problem and how you solved it.’ You don’t ask that. You try to really have a very personal conversation where you are trying to get to the core of who this person is.”
Additionally, organizations should ensure that multiple interviewers with diverse perspectives assess candidates for character traits, she says.
“It is important that these character assessments would actually be more than one person interviewing. So, it’s really a team that, from different perspectives, is assessing these different behaviours and dimensions of the person being interviewed.”
Building a balanced leadership pipeline
Organizations can foster better leadership by embedding character assessments into all aspects of HR, from hiring to performance evaluations and promotions. This means moving beyond the traditional “competence-only” approach to leadership development.
Vera stresses that this approach should be transparent, so employees understand that character, not just ambition, will play a role in their career progression. She notes that some organizations have begun indicating in job postings that certain qualities are valued and promoted.
“You can be humble and ambitious, and if you are humble, you are a continuous learner, you are always listening to different perspectives,” Vera says.
“You don't think you are the center of the world. You are appreciative of the input of others, etc.”
Organizational risks of hiring for ambition
As Vera explains, the impact of hiring leaders who don’t possess a balanced range of leadership qualities can be at the organizational level.
Research shows that major corporate scandals—such as those involving Boeing, Enron, or Wells Fargo—often stem from failures of character rather than competence, she points out.
“The biggest failures in organizations … don’t come from a failure in competence. These people have a lot of degrees and MBAs and executive MBAs and finance degrees. It comes from a failure of character,” says Vera.
“Leaders are not just about degrees and experience. Leaders need to have integrity and accountability and courage and drive … but also humility and humanity.”
However, assessing for well-rounded character isn’t only about hiring and promoting, Vera concludes – it’s just as essential that hiring managers and HR professionals take a look at themselves, as well.
“How can I assess character in others if I am not aware of my own character?” Vera says.
“So, it does require a change in paradigm. It's a new paradigm in recruiting that also involves a training and awareness of character, development of character and how to embed character into HR.”
