In this episode of Lead to Soar, Michelle Redfern and Mel Butcher discuss Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman.
The conversation centres on Bregman’s critique of so-called “b******t jobs” — roles that are well-paid, high-status, and socially approved, yet exist largely to protect power, manage perception, or maintain systems rather than improve outcomes.
Rather than focusing on individual morality, the discussion looks at how ambition has been shaped and narrowed. Certain careers are treated as inherently successful, while the question of whether the work is useful is rarely asked. Prestige, external validation, and momentum often replace impact as measures of success.
Michelle and Mel also connect Bregman’s ideas to the work of Ralph Nader, who decades earlier was already calling out how talented people were being drawn into defending systems instead of fixing harm. The language has changed. The pattern has not.
The episode also addresses the tension between effectiveness and moral signalling. When energy is spent on positioning and purity rather than action, momentum stalls and nothing changes. Progress has never required perfection. It has required people willing to act and accept pushback.
Leadership takeaways
Ambition is not the problem. Where it is directed is.
Prestige and usefulness are not the same thing.
Systems don’t need bad actors to persist. They rely on talented people maintaining them.
Moral positioning without action does not deliver change.
Leaders are responsible for where talent is deployed and what work is rewarded.
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