Hero, Move-Up or Be-Better? The Three Kinds of Ambition Behind a Leader's Next Move

The Three Kinds of Ambition in Leadership: how senior executives and founders recognise which drive is behind their next career decision

Hugo Brooks sorts ambition into three kinds, hero, move-up and be-better, and argues that senior executives and founders rarely stop to ask which one is driving their next decision. He spent 35 years building, growing and selling brand, innovation and communications agencies while advising Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestlé and Virgin, and he traces his own mix moving from mostly hero in his twenties to mostly be-better now. Through his coaching practice Magnetic North, and in talks to rooms of senior executives and founders, he shows leaders how to recognise the kind of ambition behind a promotion, a new venture or a career change before they commit to it. His book Ambition: Redefining Success for a Restless Age draws on evolutionary biology, neuroscience and social history to explain why that mix shifts across a career. Listeners leave able to name the ambition behind their own next move and decide whether it is the one they want.

About Hugo Brooks

Hugo Brooks, podcast guest

Ambition Strategist & Author

35+ years Building, growing and selling businesses4 global brands Advised Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestlé and VirginPublished author Ambition: Redefining Success for a Restless AgeMagnetic North Coaching practice

Hugo Brooks is an Ambition Strategist, speaker and author who helps founders, business leaders and ambitious creatives rethink one of the most powerful forces shaping their lives: ambition.

After more than 35 years building, growing and selling brand, innovation and communications businesses, Hugo reached a turning point. Having advised global organisations including Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestlé and Virgin while navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurship himself, a single question from his wife changed everything: "Are you sure you want to do this again?" That moment led him to step off the entrepreneurial treadmill and dedicate his second career to helping others build success that is consciously chosen rather than unconsciously inherited.

Today, through coaching, speaking and his book, Ambition: Redefining Success for a Restless Age, Hugo challenges the conventional belief that ambition is simply about achieving bigger goals. Instead, he argues that ambition is a powerful human force that drives almost every decision we make -and that the real question is not how ambitious we are, but whether our ambition is taking us where we truly want to go. Drawing on evolutionary biology, neuroscience, social history and his own entrepreneurial journey, he helps leaders understand the hidden patterns that shape their choices and shows how to align ambition with the life they genuinely want to build.

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