Holy Ambition: The Power of “Humbition”
“When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” — Nehemiah 1:4
Happy Friday, Brew Nation!
I learned a new “-ism” this week that hit me right where I live.
The word? Humbition.
It’s the powerful blend of Humility and Ambition—or as Justin Forman, Co-Founder and President of Faith Driven Entrepreneur, described it: God-sized ambition paired with radical humility. He framed the tension between these two words not as a conflict, but as a gift for leaders to embrace.
Too often, culture treats “ambition” like a dirty word. We see greedy ambition glorified in media—big cars, massive houses, luxury yachts, and private islands. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having nice things, but when ambition is divorced from humility, it turns toxic.
In their book Fighting Shadows, Jefferson Bethke and Jon Tyson point out that as men and leaders, we aren’t at war with ambition—we are in a war for ambition…holy ambition. Without holy ambition, your vision is inevitably reduced to your own narrow wants and needs.
The Journey of Ambition
Where are you operating today on the ambition spectrum?
- “What’s mine is mine” — Inward focus (Selfishness)
- “What’s yours is mine” — Greedy focus (Exploitation)
- “What’s mine is yours” — Servant focus (Generosity)
- “What’s mine is His” — Eternal focus (Holy Ambition)
When you slip into the first two phases, ambition becomes dangerous because we can’t take any of it with us. True leadership begins when we transition from selfish gain to Kingdom stewardship.
The 3 Key Ingredients of Humbition
How do we cultivate this in our daily lives? The authors of Fighting Shadows give us a simple equation:
{Kingdom Vision} + {Crystallization of Discontent} + {Radical Action} = {Holy Ambition}
- Kingdom Vision: Instead of asking, “What do I want?” start asking, “How does my ambition impact others for good?”
- Crystallization of Discontent: This is the fuel for change. People only alter their trajectory when the pain of complacency becomes greater than the discomfort of change. You have to feed your frustration with the status quo.
- Radical Action: It may not be your fault that a problem exists, but as an Uncommon Leader, it is your responsibility to do something about it.
The Nehemiah Standard
When I think of Humbition in action, I think of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah had a comfortable, high-status job as cupbearer to the king. But when he heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and his people were in distress, his heart broke. Like Peter Finch’s famous line in the 1976 movie Network—”I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”—Nehemiah got righteous anger!
He didn’t just sit around complaining. He prayed, channeled his discontent, took radical action, and led the team to rebuild 1.7 miles of wall in just 52 days! (Shoot, they’ve been working on a short stretch of road here in Myrtle Beach for over three years and aren’t done yet!).
Quote of the Week
“Without God-sized ambition, your vision will always be reduced to the size of your own wants and needs.” — Jon Tyson
Being the Uncommon Leader means refusing to let your ambition serve only your ego. It is the “huddle room” of Kingdom purpose—the space where you align your drive with radical humility. Common leaders use their ambition to build personal kingdoms that crumble when they leave. Uncommon Leaders leverage their ambition to build people, solve hard problems, and leave a legacy that lasts for eternity.
Email me at coachjohngallagher@gmail.com with the subject line “HUMBITION” to let me know what problem you are ready to tackle with Holy Ambition!
What You Need to Do
The Humbition Audit
I am not suggesting you quit your job tomorrow to move across the world. I am suggesting you look for Humbition right where your feet are planted today:
- Identify Your Discontent: What is one problem in your business, community, family, or team that makes you “mad as hell”? What task is burning in your stomach that is bigger than you?
- Check Your Motivation: Audit your current top three goals. Are they driven by “What’s mine is mine,” or “What’s mine is His”?
- Take One Radical Step: Identify the very first step—a phone call, a difficult conversation, or a schedule change—that you can execute in the next 24 hours to address that discontent.
Growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow will get better, but self-serving ambition will only lead to a dead end. Align your drive with His purpose, take radical action on your discontent, and keep climbing.
It’s an honor to be your trusted Friday Coffee Guy. Each week, I bring what I’m reading, studying, and wrestling with in my own leadership journey so we can sharpen each other. If this edition challenged you to upgrade your ambition,SHARE it with a leader who needs a spark, then click SUBSCRIBE. Let’s grow Brew Nation together!
Until next week—stay humble, stay ambitious, and go grow champions!
