# Up to You and up to Them—Achievement and Power Motives as Building Blocks of Leadership Potential and Overall Reputation

## TL;DR

This study explores how achievement and power motives influence leadership potential and reputation, and how these effects differ by gender.

## Contribution

The study reveals gender differences in how achievement and power motives are linked to leadership perceptions and overall reputation.

## Key findings

- Achievement motive is positively linked to leadership potential and overall reputation.
- Power motive is associated with leadership potential but not overall reputation.
- Gender moderates the strength of these associations, especially for overall reputation.

## Abstract

Background: Building on socioanalytic theory and signaling theory, this study examined whether self-reported motives—representing individuals’ identities—translate into reputational outcomes. Furthermore, drawing on role congruity theory, the study examined whether gender would moderate the strength of the relationship between the self-reported motives and reputational consequences. Methods: We used a large sample of management students (N = 349) on which we collected self-reported achievement and power motives, and peer ratings (N = 508) of overall reputation and leadership potential. Results: We found that (a) achievement motive was positively associated with leadership potential and overall reputation (including trustworthiness and competence); (b) power motive was positively associated with leadership potential; and (c) both motives were equally strong predictors of leadership potential, but only achievement motive was a significant predictor of overall reputation. Finally, in line with role congruity theory, we observed that the positive associations between both motives and leadership potential were stronger for male than for female students. However, for overall reputation, this applied only to the power motive, suggesting that gender affects how motivational signals are socially interpreted. Conclusions: These findings offer implications for future research and provide practical insights into talent identification, leadership development, and performance evaluation processes.