Pursuing Leadership on One's Own Terms: A Human Resource Development Perspective on Leadership Aspiration, Identity, and Organizational Influence

ABSTRACT Leadership aspiration is not simply a product of ambition or capability, but a dynamic, context‐sensitive phenomenon shaped by how individuals understand leadership and whether pursuing it feels feasible, meaningful, and sustainable. Using phenomenographic analysis of semi‐structured interviews with 23 employees and drawing on Leadership Identity Development Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory, we identified four themes shaping aspiration: leadership conceptualization, self‐efficacy and identity, outcome expectations, and contextual enablers and constraints. These themes constitute an outcome space mapping the qualitatively distinct ways leadership aspiration is experienced and structured. A central finding is that what may appear as withdrawal or career plateauing often reflects intentional recalibration—an agentic renegotiation of the scope and conditions of leadership pursuit in response to contextual realities and identity alignment. Human resource development practitioners should foster inclusive messaging, flexible development opportunities, and relational supports that accommodate the diverse ways individuals navigate leadership aspiration.