The incentive to ambition is the love of power.

Underneath most ambition sits a wish for control rather than a wish for the thing itself, and it helps to know which one is driving. Wanting power is not automatically corrupt; it can mean wanting the ability to protect people, or to stop being at somebody else’s mercy. It turns into a problem when it goes unexamined, since unexamined wants make decisions on your behalf.

Ask what you would actually do with the position you are chasing. If the honest answer is mostly about who could no longer overrule you, that is information rather than a verdict. Knowing the real motive lets you check whether the climb will supply it.