The Leader's Chip

Your Greatest Asset and Most Dangerous Liability

I was 29 years old, sitting across from a VP who had just criticized my project in front of the entire leadership team. My face burned as I listened to him dissect my work, pointing out flaws I'd already identified and was addressing. When he finally paused, I heard that familiar voice in my head:

"He thinks you're not good enough. Show him how wrong he is."

Before I could stop myself, I launched into a defensive tirade, interrupting him mid-sentence. I aggressively defended every decision, dismissed his concerns, and even highlighted several mistakes in his recent project. The room fell silent. I had "won" the argument—and likely damaged my reputation more in those three minutes than I could repair in three months.

What had taken control? The chip on my shoulder—that internal voice telling me I needed to prove myself, to show everyone that I belonged at the table.

This "chip" is something nearly every successful leader carries. It's the internalized response to being underestimated, overlooked, or dismissed. It's the fire that fuels our determination, resilience, and drive to exceed expectations. And yet, if left unchecked, it can sabotage the very success it helped create.

The Power of the Chip

Let's be honest: without this chip, many of us wouldn't have achieved the success we enjoy today.

When I look back at pivotal moments in my career, the chip was often the engine behind my greatest breakthroughs. When industry veterans told me I could never build a pipeline of customers for my business by streaming on Twitch, something in me sparked. "Watch me," I thought. I doubled down on my content strategy when others said it would never work. Today, EVERY customer I've ever acquired has come directly from my content. The "experts" couldn't have been more wrong.

Another critical moment came when our customers began developing competing solutions, essentially becoming our biggest competitors overnight. It was pivot or die. While the team panicked, my chip kicked in. "We're not going down like this," I resolved. I immersed myself in understanding the changing market dynamics and developed the pivot strategy that still fuels the company to this day.

Perhaps most satisfying was joining a billion-dollar organization where leadership declared that "Agile would never work here." I heard the whispers: our culture was too entrenched, our processes too complex, our teams too distributed. My chip translated those doubts into fuel. Within a year, those same skeptical leaders were asking me to conduct an "Agile roadshow," teaching the entire company how it could be done. Seeing those former critics become advocates was validation that the chip had channeled my energy in exactly the right direction.

The chip pushes us past comfortable mediocrity. It makes us work harder, prepare more thoroughly, and persist when others might give up. It creates a perpetual hunger that prevents complacency. Used correctly, the chip is rocket fuel for your career and your organization.

When the Chip Takes Control

But the same force that propels us forward can also send us careening off track. The chip doesn't just whisper motivation—it can scream insecurities that trigger our worst behaviors.

The chip's destructive manifestations:

• The defensive overreaction to feedback (as in my opening story)

• The need to be the smartest person in the room, talking over others

• Taking professional disagreements personally

• Micromanaging because "if you want something done right..."

• Making decisions based on ego rather than evidence

I've witnessed brilliant careers stall because leaders couldn't distinguish between the chip's productive energy and its destructive impulses. They became known as "difficult," "defensive," or "egotistical"—qualities that overshadowed their actual abilities.

One particularly talented VP I worked with was passed over for a C-suite role specifically because, despite his exceptional results, his chip-driven behaviors made him "too much of a liability in high-stakes situations." The very force that had propelled him to the executive level became the ceiling preventing him from breaking through further.

Recognizing the Chip's Activation

The first step in harnessing the chip's power while avoiding its pitfalls is simply recognizing when it activates. The chip speaks loudest in moments that trigger our insecurities or threaten our self-image.

Common activation triggers include receiving critical feedback, being interrupted or talked over, having ideas dismissed or attributed to others, witnessing someone else receive recognition in your area of expertise, being excluded from important discussions or decisions, or facing a challenge that tests the limits of your capabilities.

Your physical response will likely be the first indicator—the burning face, racing heart, tightening chest, or sudden jolt of energy that signals the chip is powering up. Next comes the internal dialogue, often starting with phrases like "I'll show them..." or "Who do they think they are..." or "They have no idea what they're talking about..."

Learning to recognize these moments creates a crucial pause between the chip's activation and your response—a space in which you can choose how to channel its energy.

Harnessing the Chip's Power

The goal isn't to eliminate the chip—it's to transform it from an unconscious driver of behavior into a conscious source of power you can direct.

Five steps to master your chip:

1. Normalize its existence - Acknowledge that almost every successful leader has a chip. It doesn't make you broken—it makes you human.

2. Create a physical interrupt - When you feel the chip activating, use a physical cue like a deep breath or simply saying "interesting" before responding.

3. Name the chip's concern - Mentally identify what the chip is protecting: "My chip thinks my competence is being questioned."

4. Redirect the energy - Channel the chip's power toward productive outcomes instead of defensive reactions.

5. Practice strategic activation - Eventually, you can intentionally engage your chip as a performance tool in high-stakes situations.

One leader I work with transformed his chip's message from "Show them how much you know" to "Show them how much we can accomplish together." The energy remained, but its expression fundamentally changed.

The Mature Chip: Evolution of a Leader

As you develop this relationship with your chip, something remarkable happens: it evolves from an unconscious defensive mechanism into a sophisticated tool that serves your leadership purpose.

The chip's evolution across a leadership journey:

• Early-career: "I need to prove my worth"

• Mid-career: "I need to demonstrate my unique value"

• Mature leadership: "I need to maximize my impact"

With each evolution, the chip's energy becomes less about the leader's ego and more about their contribution. The focus moves from self to service, though the motivational power remains.

Checking Your Chip

Take a moment to reflect on your own chip: What experiences shaped your particular chip? What does it protect? In what situations does your chip most often activate? How does your chip manifest in your behavior—both positively and negatively?

Transformative questions for chip management:

• When was the last time your chip activated? What triggered it?

• What would have been a more powerful response in that moment?

• How might you channel your chip's energy toward your most important leadership goals?

• What would a more conscious relationship with your chip make possible for your leadership?

The leaders who achieve the greatest long-term success aren't those without chips—they're those who've learned to make their chips work for them rather than against them.

The chip on your shoulder carried you this far for a reason.

Don't discard it—master it.

Josh Anderson
Editor-In-Chief
The Leadership Lighthouse