Yes, ambition can make you more successful. It can also make you happier

Some people think ambition is a dirty word. They assume ambition will drive you to step on others out of a desire to win at any cost. But in reality, ambition can help you feel a greater sense of purpose at work, build positive relationships, and achieve your professional goals. 

In the modern work landscape, ambition is especially important. Recently, new emphasis has been called to issues such as workplace well-being and work life balance. These are critical, but they are not in opposition to ambition. In fact, leaning in, striving for more, and enthusiastically pursuing goals are healthy for your self-esteem and your satisfaction as well.

Here’s how ambition can help you be happier and more successful at work. 

Reframing ambition

The first step of leveraging ambition to your advantage at work is to reframe what it means to be ambitious. Interestingly, only 4% of people say that ambition means a desire to be better than others. In fact, the majority of people—53%—believe ambition is about a desire for achievement and distinction, and 43% believe it’s about a drive to develop and grow, according to a survey by ResumeLab.

How you express your ambition can significantly impact how your coworkers see you. And researchers have found if you’re viewed as disagreeable (think: callous, cold, or selfish), then you’ll have a harder time creating strong relationships or getting ahead. On the other hand, studies have found that being cooperative can increase your chances of being promoted to a leadership role. 

Bottom line: Embrace your ambition for growth, development, and achievement—but be sure you’re still cooperative and a good team player in the process. 

Ambition and achievement are connected

Ambition affects your thinking process and your actions—and these in turn affect what you’re able to achieve. In particular, when you’re ambitious, you’ll tend to set bigger goals and more important objectives, according to research in Frontiers in Psychology.

Plus, ambitious workers are more likely to take action toward their goals. When you are ambitious, you’re more likely to invest more energy, focus, and effort into reaching your desires for your career, based on research published in European Economic Review.

When you embrace ambition, you are more likely to take initiative to support the new project in your organization, or to step up to solve a thorny customer problem, or to address drinking water contamination in your community.     

Taking on new initiatives results in a greater likelihood that you will achieve your educational goals as well as higher levels of status and income at work, according to studies published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Researchers have also found that ambition leads to having a higher level of satisfaction at work. 

My advice: Think big when you’re setting your goals and then take steps to accomplish them—and reap the rewards.

Ambition improves teamwork 

Ambition also benefits your relationships at work. In fact, 80% of people think it’s good to be ambitious, and 53% of people like their colleagues to be ambitious, according to the aforementioned ResumeLab data. Even better, 25% of people felt that people who are ambitious are an inspiration to others. 

The primary way we learn is through watching, listening to, and experiencing other people. We pick up on the engagement, productivity, and energy of others. When people around us want big things, take initiative, and receive the payoffs, it tends to motivate us as well. And when you have better relationships and feel more connected, you’re more likely to feel greater levels of joy and happiness.

In this way, you can use your ambition to engage with others. Talk about where you want to go, what you want to achieve, why it’s important, and what you’re going to do about it. Over time you will find that this endears people to you and helps teams feel like they can set big goals together. 

Ambition boosts productivity 

Ambition is also good for productivity. Approximately 46% of people believe that when others are ambitious, they are a significant resource for the team—someone the team can rely on to contribute to results. And 9% believe they can get greater outputs—and achieve bigger things—when a teammate is ambitious, based on the ResumeLab data. 

For instance, a focus on ambitious productivity can increase the number of sprints your IT team takes on or compress the time you need to complete the product rollout. It can reduce the hiring time your HR team requires and reduce errors in your process. Plus, when you perform better, you tend to be happier, because you feel positively about how you’re contributing and why you matter.

Lean into your ambition to get things done—by inspiring others and by moving things forward.   

Research has found some people are more likely than others to be ambitious. Specifically, those who are conscientious, extraverted, and smart, according to research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. And when comparing men and women, there are no differences in ambition, according to the data from ResumeLab.

No matter who you are or what your personality, however, you can activate ambition by setting goals, taking initiative, getting support from team members, and working hard. All of these will not only energize you, but will also get you great results—in everything from status and income to satisfaction and happiness.