I think the aspirations of the publishers are purely mandated by the governing body's unreasonable expectations. For instance, publishers are pressured to be baptized, baptized publishers are pressured to pioneer, pioneers are pressured to elevate to bethelites or "need greaters," etc.
Sadly, it creates a culture of it's members feeling as if they are never doing enough.
In fact, upon my return from volunteering at Bethel, I was ostracized by my elders for not serving "long enough." Where most other organizations provide praise for the efforts of their members, Watchtower scorns is members with "that's not good enough, you could have done more for us."