Ambition Redefined

Last week, during a leadership certification, I found myself talking with several women in their fifties. We had spent much of our careers opening doors for women in corporate leadership. We wondered why some younger women seem less eager to walk through them.

Then the conversation shifted.

Perhaps they are asking questions we did not feel free to ask: What will this role require of me? What parts of my life am I willing to give to work? Can I lead well without making work the center of everything?

I have spent more than 35 years building a career I value. I am proud of the opportunities my generation helped create. I also know that many of us gave up time and parts of ourselves along the way. Hearing younger women question that tradeoff invites me to examine it, too.

I still want to see women lead. I want the work we did to matter. But its value may lie in giving the next generation more choices than we had, including the choice to define leadership differently.

That also asks something of organizations. If talented people look at senior roles and hesitate, we should listen to what they see. We can create leadership opportunities that offer meaningful influence and room for a full life.

The next generation will decide what ambition and balance mean for them. I hope we make space for their answers, even when those answers challenge our own.