Originally posted on Jennifer Schechter’s Medium.
A recent report commissioned by American Express in partnership with the New York Women’s Foundation found that while a majority of women consider themselves to be ambitious, only three out of ten are proud to publicly call themselves ambitious.
My first reaction to that finding was disappointment. “Why aren’t we women more comfortable calling ourselves ambitious?” But then I began to question the underlying premise of that reaction. Maybe the problem is not with women’s willingness to be known as ambitious but with society’s definition of ambition, and how it differs from the way women define ambition for ourselves.
What is it about the word “ambitious” that seems to be at odds with the way women perceive themselves?
The dictionary definition of ambition is: “a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.” By that definition, most women I know are ambitious. But in contrast to this benign dictionary definition, I have found that ambition is often more narrowly interpreted.
Many women, myself included, perceive society’s definition of ambition as the pursuit of an objective, often the relentless pursuit of an objective, at the expense of all else, be it balance in one’s own life or the wellbeing of colleagues.
It is ambitious to go after a promotion, start your own company, work 80 hours a week. But can ambitious also mean balanced? Can someone be ambitious at work and equally committed to other parts of their lives? Can an ambitious leader be focused on their company’s success and their team’s wellbeing? I believe yes; however, we need to redefine our concept of ambition to be more holistic.
Holistic ambition can be the prioritization of balance between work and family. It can also be ambition in the pursuit of fostering true growth, collaboration, and partnership amongst your team or organization or in providing a safe space for your staff to explore their strengths.
By embracing a notion of holistic ambition, we can create space for new types of leadership, including female leadership.
This isn’t a new or radical way of looking at leadership. Many of the traits I have described are seen in leaders such as the “Catalyst,” the “Energizer,” or the “Servant Leader.” Holistic leadership also leads to more effectiveness in the workplace. Studies have shown that leading in a holistic, collaborative, empathetic, and values-based way leads to higher performance of teamsand organizations that are better prepared to solve problems and embrace complexity as a whole.
Unfortunately, this type of ambition isn’t rewarded in the era of TED talks, 280-character tweets, and the adrenaline-fueled, “scale or fail” mentality. In fact, it is in sharp contrast to those things. Holistic ambition is an intentional fostering of all facets of your life that you deem important while creating a culture of sustainability in the workplace. It is a deliberate effort to resist the temptation to achieve an objective at the expense of everything else, from your family and health to your colleagues and employees.
Ana Oliveira, president of The New York Women’s Foundation, remarked that she wasn’t surprised about the results of the Ambitious Insights report. The report details how women’s ambitions span many dimensions, Timothy McClimon, contributor to Forbes stated “Most women not only aspire to have successful careers, but want financial independence, to be great parents and so much more.”
I believe there is a hunger, among men and women, to redefine destructive and unhealthy notions of ambition.
We must redefine what it means to be “ambitious.” In doing so, we will create space for women to move into greater leadership positions, and as a result, to lead their teams and organizations to new definitions of holistic, long-term success.
In the field of global health, where 70% of the health workforce is women while only 25% hold senior roles, we have the opportunity to turn this paradigm on its head. We have the pipeline. By reshaping our understanding of ambition, we can make room for the women who will lead differently and proudly declare themselves holistically ambitious.