The Power of Quiet Ambition: Why Humility And Service Are Underrated Power Moves for Women Leaders
Hi, I’m Bonnie Marcus and welcome to Own Your Ambition. As a former CEO, published author and executive coach, I offer tools and strategies for women to successfully navigate the complexities of the current workplace.
In this newsletter, I explore ‘quiet ambition’ with Carolyn Dewar, author and senior partner at McKinsey and Company, and how leading with results along with humility and service helps women gain respect and power.
Ambition in leadership is often equated with boldness, visibility, and relentless self-promotion. The loudest voice in the room, we’re told, is the one that commands authority. But Carolyn Dewar, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and co-author of CEO Excellence and the forthcoming A CEO for All Seasons (out October 7, 2025), offers a counterpoint: some of the most powerful leaders she has studied embody quiet ambition.
Their drive is no less fierce, but it is expressed through discipline, service, and humility, traits often overlooked, especially in high-stakes environments where women are told to “lean in” louder. As Dewar’s decades of research with Fortune 500 CEOs reveal, humility and service are not soft skills; they are strategic advantages.
Quiet Ambition: Lead with Results
“Quiet ambition is the drive to achieve outsized impact without needing the spotlight,” Dewar explains. “Some of the most ambitious leaders I know are also the quietest in the room. They let results, not volume, do the talking.”
This runs counter to traditional career advice for women, which often emphasizes visibility as the ticket to advancement. Yet quiet ambition can be just as powerful, if not more so, when paired with results that speak louder than self-promotion.
Consider Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors. She has reshaped the company with a disciplined focus on electric vehicles and long-term transformation, all while projecting steadiness rather than flash. Her ambition is audacious, making GM a leader in the EV future, yet her style is rooted in focus and persistence, not theatrics.
Servant Leadership: Strength in Service
If quiet ambition challenges the myth that leadership must be loud, servant leadership reframes the idea that leadership is about power at all. “When leaders orient around service to customers, employees, or society, they build trust that compounds over time,” Dewar says.
She points to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who sees his role as serving the company’s 2.3 million associates so they can better serve customers. His decision to raise wages and expand frontline opportunities is not just generosity; it is strategy. Trust, once built, becomes a competitive advantage.
For women leaders, this is particularly powerful. Servant leadership pushes back against the stereotype that authority means domination. Instead, it demonstrates strength through stewardship. As Dewar notes, “The CEO role is not about you. It is a caretaking role, and the true measure of success is leaving the company stronger than you found it.”
Indra Nooyi embodied this during her tenure as PepsiCo’s CEO. She pursued Performance with Purpose, linking financial growth with sustainability and healthier products while consistently elevating her team. Her servant leadership didn’t make her less ambitious. It made her impact last.
Humility: Reality-Facing, Not Self-Effacing
Perhaps the most counterintuitive trait Dewar champions is humility. “Humility is not self-effacing. It is reality-facing,” she insists. Leaders who lack humility often surround themselves with echo chambers. Leaders with humility stay open to dissent, new ideas, and outside perspectives making them sharper and more resilient.
Ajay Banga, during his years at Mastercard, exemplified this. While driving global expansion, he actively sought diverse voices and perspectives, especially on financial inclusion. His humility didn’t dilute his authority; it deepened it.
For women in male-dominated spaces, humility can be misinterpreted as weakness. But Dewar reframes it as a power move when paired with clarity. “Women can acknowledge they don’t have every answer and still stake out a bold direction. Humility does not mean playing small. It means showing you are a leader who is always learning and always improving.”
Think of Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister of New Zealand. Her combination of empathy, openness, and decisiveness during crises, most notably the Christchurch shootings and COVID-19, demonstrated how humility and authority can coexist powerfully.
How Women Can Leverage These Traits
So how can ambitious women adopt this model of quiet ambition, humility, and service without being overlooked? Dewar offers three lessons:
Anchor in purpose. Be ambitious not for recognition, but for the impact you can drive. Purpose sharpens ambition.
Pair humility with clarity. Listen deeply, seek input, but make bold, confident calls.
Own the role fully. Don’t wait to be “proven.” Authority begins the moment you step into the seat.
As Dewar notes, “Confidence does not precede action. It is the dividend of action.”
A New Leadership Playbook
The old playbook for women in leadership urged visibility and leaning in louder. But the emerging evidence from Dewar’s research suggests a more enduring path: quiet ambition paired with humility and service.
It is a style that builds trust, attracts strong teams, and creates lasting impact. It challenges stereotypes while disarming resistance. And for women navigating high-stakes roles, it offers a way to lead with both strength and authenticity.
As Dewar’s work reminds us, the leaders who thrive are not those who shout the loudest, but those who listen, serve, and keep learning, proving that humility may be the most underrated power move of all.
I love this. When we leverage empathy and empowering others--which are often values and skills that women hold--it can lead to great success. Women don't need to lead "like stereotypical male leaders" but rather like empathetic, compassionate and humble people.