Chandrasekar & Chappelow 
Managing Ambition 

Ambition is a good thing, but too much of it can cause problems. You need ambition to be successful, but if you have too much, it can derail your career. This guidebook will help you determine whether you have a problem with ambition. You will gain a fuller understanding of its basic drivers: the need for competence, the need for achievement, and the need for rewards. You will learn how these drivers can affect your work, and you will learn strategies for managing them. Each of the drivers has identifi able components. The need for competence, for example, has three components: superiority, competitiveness, and pride. The exercises in this guidebook will help you identify which components could be a problem for you and prioritize your efforts in addressing them. You will also be encouraged to seek ongoing feedback from others and to observe and learn from how other leaders deal with their ambition. With this guidebook, you can learn to understand and manage your ambition so that it won’t derail your career but will contribute to your efforts to achieve personal and organizational success.