Author

 Dia Bondi 00:19

Hieveryone, this is Lead With Who You Are. I'm Dia Bondi, and on this show, weexplore and discover what it truly means to lead with who you are. And we'redoing it with people who embody just that. In this episode, we're talking withLisa Bragg, Author of Bragging Rights, How To Talk About Your Work UsingPurposeful Self Promotion. Let me just say, Rock on. On this episode, you aregoing to get three ways you can get moving on ragging successfully so you canget credit for the work you do, the expertise you've accumulated, and theimpact you've had and will have in your life and career. If you're going tolead with who you are, you gotta brag about who you are. You'll find Lisa'sbook in the show notes. And speaking of books this month, Ask Like AnAuctioneer, my book, to help you ask for more and get it, is live for preorder. You can find it and buy it today on Barnes and Noble, Target Pals books,and Amazon. And the audio book is coming at launch a little later this year. Sopick it up. And don't wait to ask for more and get it so you can reach yourgoals faster. Hey, just a quick reminder, you can subscribe to this show onyour podcast platform of choice. We're live nearly everywhere. And you canalways listen to the show at diabondi.com. If there's a leader or innovator inyour life, who is in their shiniest when they lead with who they truly are,please share the show with them. And rate, subscribe, and leave us a reviewmakes a huge difference in the reach that the show has when you let everyoneelse know what you love about the show. Thanks so much. Lisa Bragg hasliterally written the book on how to talk about success, her book, BraggingRights, How To Talk About Your Work Using Purposeful Self Promotion, releases inMay 2023. She is a speaker advisor and professional mentor. And Lisa is thefounder of Media Face, a Toronto based content and consulting firm. She's alsobeen a TV reporter and anchor for 15 years, we were coreless activatorstogether and she is a real pro. Lisa, I'm so glad to have you here today. Andwe're having you on the show because our audience is chock full oftransformational leaders, Founders, high achieving, and ambitious professionalswho have done and do great things and have great impact. And in my 20 years ofleadership, communications coaching, and since launching Project: Ask Like AnAuctioneer, it's become really clear to me that owning our achievement storyand then telling it bragging is a challenge at any level in our career.

Lisa Bragg 03:27

Oh, it'sso is.

Dia Bondi 03:28

Itreally is. And I remember watching an interview even with Sallie Krawcheck, thefounder of Ella vest, when she launched her book, it was just a few years ago.And as the host was like talking to her about her achievements and her book. Icould I thought about you and I saw it it was after you and I met because I sawher squirm. And then slowly while she sat in her seat, she slid the book thatshe was supposed to be promoting out of view of the camera to clearly just likewant to change the subject. So it's this is a challenge for so many folks. Andyou as the Author of Bragging Rights are here with us to have a convo about howwe can share how we can share how we lead with who we are and get credit forit. So thank you so much for being here.

Lisa Bragg 04:19

Oh, andyour people are my people. And it happens so often where we just say, Oh, no,no, no, that's not me. Don't tell me all those things, great things about me.We just hide it. And that doesn't help telling people how we want to tellpeople how we are here to serve. And so all of that helps people know what todo with you and where you should go next. So we need to talk about our success.

Dia Bondi 04:39

I loveit. So to start with you and your story. If you were to answer the question,Who are you? How might you do that today?

Lisa Bragg 04:50

Youknow, I am my book. So I am a hidden gem today. I feel like I'm on yourpodcast, but I am my book. I am somebody who often. I am successful and I haveto stand here and say that to you and own that, and I, you know, have done somany things in my life. And I know I'm here to serve, but I am constantly mybook. I like to hide, I like to, you know, just talk about you all day, thatwould make me very happy. But I know that I need to tell people what I'msupposed to be doing and where I'm where I want to go. So they can help me getthere. And go further, further faster. So today, I am a hidden gem.

Dia Bondi 05:29

That'sfantastic. So you've taken a huge interest in tackling bragging, I think it wasthe first thing you and I talked about when we first met around and was evenway pre book you were doing this, you know, bringing this idea to life forprofessionals in organizations, and maybe outside of organizations, teachingframeworks to help people do a better job of bragging in a way that's alignedwith their actual achievements, and taking credit for their great work. Whatinstigated this for you?

Lisa Bragg 06:01

Well, Ithink when you look at the podcast name, my last name is Bragg. So Lisa, brag,so I've had to carry it, the last name Bragg my whole life. And so when I wasyeah, so. So when I was about 15, I realized that brag meant something to otherpeople that it didn't mean to me, and that you'd get eye rolling. And I was ahigh achiever, young person and my friends were brilliant, way smarter than Iwas. But they would also would so frequently hide their accomplishments, hidehow successful they were, you know, they we just wouldn't diminish ourselves sothat we wouldn't stand out and that we would fit in. And that's very much whatyou do when you're a teenager, we want to fit in, we don't want to stand out,which is really sad. And then when I was a broadcast journalist, I was ajournalist for a long time. And I would go up to people, and you know, early onin my career, I was a videographer. So those are the people that would carrythe camera and have a microphone. It sounds so antiquated. Now, because it'sall that way. But we would have is technology that was different. So it wasn'tjust a reporter, I was also doing the camera at this point, too. And it was somuch fun doing it sometimes. But I would go up to people and say, you know,Jan, you're the expert, I'd love you to tell me about x, y. And she would say,oh, no, I'm not the expert. Oh, no, go down the hall to John. And it wouldhappen over and over and over again. So I had cornered, you know, Jan, and say,like, No, I would really like you to do this, I will help you through it. BecauseI was also by myself, I had a little bit more leeway. And people would peopledid trust me. So I do some media coaching on the spot. And when I helped peopleto actually tell their story and be on camera with me and own that they werethe experts. I would then watch them go off and do more and more interviews.And then they would do greater things. And I have still to this day emails andthank you cards from the people that I said, Hey, really, I do think you're theexpert. I don't want John because you know what? All my competitors went toJohn. So I want you someone who's never done this before to tell us the storybecause you're a different person makes a different story. And we need morediversity and voices. And so over and over and over again, I was pushed off,I'm not ready. My hair is not done. I don't know what to say I'm not theexpert. And that frustrated me extensively that people weren't willing to ownthat they were experts in what they were doing. And so that's a part ofbragging is, is owning that you are the expert. And so even now in my work, Ifeel like I anoint, I sometimes I use a magic wand, my one of my daughter'slike little toys. She's much older now. So she's not using her magic wand. Butyou know, those sparkly magic wands. And you know, or lightsaber If I'm reallybeing cool. And tell people Yes, I anoint you, I give you power, that you arethe expert that I think you are and the rest of the world thinks and so often,it's so much self belief. So those are the three really big things that broughtme to it as as a as a young person, then in my career as a journalist, and thenmoving into starting what is now bragging rights.

Dia Bondi 09:03

It'ssuch a beautiful idea of like anointing somebody or you know, declaring andhaving the title expert and previous episode, we talked about sort of living into your expert status. And when you anoint somebody as an expert, there'salmost a persona around that. And there's so much power in naming and claiminga persona that we can then step into. I mean, I think there are, you know,world class athletes, I think, doesn't Beyonce have a an alter ego that she hasnamed and uses to call and calls it forth when she needs to perform in a waythat meets the expectation and the context that she's in stadium shows etcetera? Like the the the notion instead of saying, No, I'm not an expert to beanointed as such. So you can step into that persona I think is really awonderful little ritual and a great tool. all for letting us say yes to thatrole, even if it feels awkward for us.

Lisa Bragg 10:04

And youknow, in my research to for my book, I found that some people don't even feelcomfortable with the role the title of leader, and they are the leader, theymay even be the CEO but leader feels like too heavy of a word to them. Soexperts and forget about visionary, it's like, you know, so when an outsiderwhen someone says you are the leader, we have to own that or that you're theexpert, because the people we're talking to you're talking to aren't people whojust watched two or three TED Talks and read Harvard Business Review or FastCompany or some magazine article, these are people who already have beenworking at their craft and know what they what they're doing so and you canstart working on your craft when you're 10. And being the expert by the timeyou're 20. That's okay. It's not an age, but it's really a mindset that youhave worked on your craft and that you are, you know it and you can actuallyarticulate it. And sometimes, to get over some of these things. You just needan outsider to say it for you. So yeah, step into it.

Dia Bondi 11:00

So Lisa,you talked about people being uncomfortable. And in my coaching practice,although I don't, you know, part of the platform map that sort of underpins thecoaching work I do is about somebody's provenance or origin story, and it canfeel like bragging even though I don't possess it, you know, we don't talkabout it that way. I this idea of like, I'm uncomfortable, can sometimes. Idon't know, I have a friend and colleague who would reframe that for folks tosay, yeah, you might be what if we replace the word uncomfortable withunfamiliar, brilliant, because we don't practice we don't practice a lot. Youknow, figuring out how, because it's uncomfortable, doesn't mean it's wrong. Itmight just mean that it's unfamiliar. And I'm hoping later in the conversation,we'll get into like, what are the what are the ways in which folks can actuallypractice and get more familiar with a, an approach to or a framework forbragging in a way that feels like unfamiliar but they're willing to do so? Asyou think about your own accomplishments, your your brag bubbles? Do you noticewhat you might you yourself might have been hesitate hesitant to own bragabout, but you made yourself do it anyway?

Lisa Bragg 12:10

Oh, somany things. I am my book. And so you know, I, I started one of Canada's firstcontent companies. So before content was content, and we were doing all thesegreat things online. You know, I was doing video production and e-learning. Andhelping people. That's where I got started with Bragging Rights is that I washelping with my company media phase, saying, well, we should put your subjectmatter experts online. And so they can give away knowledge for free and like,give away our knowledge. Oh, you know, actually showcase some of our people?Oh, yeah, we should do that. Yes, we should do that. So helping them get onlinefor the first time. So owning that somebody had to point out to me, you know, youare. And when I say Canada's first it's actually the world like part of theworld part of the early people. I wasn't the first but you know, I have to putmyself up into that. Oh, yeah, I was doing that in the early ...

Dia Bondi 12:57

Avant gardein that time.

Lisa Bragg 12:58

And toown that it's like, oh, a little bit too, too much for me, and no, I have toown that. Because then it's like, oh, she's thinking head, she's a forwardthinker. And then people start to attach these ideas when they think of me. Soby saying that, yes, I was thinking of this very early, early on figuring outthe technology, advancing the technology and helping my clients realize theopportunity at hand and making the connection. So all skills that still, while we'reall doing content now, but it's how do you then take those skills that Ilearned and bring them forward now and it's they so apply in so many differentways. But it's, you know, often that we hide what we have done, we don't likeI'm so media face, my content company was one of Canada's fastest growingcompanies for several years. And for women on company to reach a milliondollar, 2 million dollar mark. And I'm not saying for ad spend, or anything.This is, you know, direct sales and really a good revenue mark like to saythat, and to be on these lists, like there was only I think, out of the top100, top 100 There's only three of us or something like that. So that'sterrible in Canada. And as it applies to the world where women owned businessesdon't make it past a million or $2 million. And so to stand in my my space andsaid, I did that, and I did it year over year, like this seems saying to youright now, it's like, Oh, should I like temper it? And it wasn't just me. It'smy team. You know, it's I have a team behind me helping me do these things, butsomeone has to own to, you know, the success of something. And, you know, in myresearch, too, I found that, we'll talk about our teams, but in the end, oneperson ultimately gets credit for things. So sometimes it has to be me.

Dia Bondi 14:39

So,okay, let's talk about your research. You know, that you obviously, you had anincredible amount of experience firsthand, working with people who do better infront of your camera in conversation with you when they have the invitation tostand in their expertise. And so that's just a lot of your own. experience on,you know, in the front lines with these folks talk about the the kind ofresearch you did that informed and the writing of the book, or what ended up inthe book.

Lisa Bragg 15:10

I lookedat what the research was already online for bragging and self promotion. And Irealized that, you know, I scratched away the surface. So what we read in themagazine articles was just the end result studies. And I wanted to know who'ssaying all these things. So when you say bragging is bad, and self promotion isbad? Who is saying this? And who is it based off? What's the sample size. So Idid a large research literature review, and saw that a lot of surveys and studieswere based on small coal cohorts of American students, so maybe 2025, studentswho felt really that bragging was very wrong and bad, and we shouldn't do itand how they felt, you know, and we were then getting all these articlesbombarding us in our business magazine saying, make sure you don't talk aboutyourself, you know, the cream always rises to the top, and all those kinds ofthings. And like, Well, does it really in this world that we're living in now?Are those not really old ideas, and also, if they're university students,they're in this the place of where they want to fit in, they don't want tostand out. So I looked at the literature, and I realized that they were talkingto people and researching people who are 2023 years old, and yeah, and notacross the world. And so that's where I decided to do research survey and talkto first of all, it was, you know, I did ask that reached out to people andsaid, Here's this information, what do you think, and people came back. So Ihave it's qualitative and quantitative. So I did interviews after the fact. ButI found that people actually do want to hear you bragging, and they want tohear your success. They want to hear those stories they want to cheer you on,it's very small amount, I think, was 2%, that don't want to hear about yoursuccess at all the rest of us are cheering for you. So I really felt it wasimportant to not just go with what was been said and done in the past, and toreally unpack it for all the people to say, what is also across the world,because we are a global world. So why are we just looking at one small group ofpeople and taking it over and over again, and amplifying this message that maynot actually reflect a greater good?

Dia Bondi 17:14

I thinkit's so interesting what you're pointing to. So with the Project: Ask Like AnAuctioneer in my forthcoming book around this, you know, we're talking aboutasking for more and getting it. And, you know, there, I had a suspicion thatpeople want to help a lot more than you want to ask, like what you're pointingto people want to hear about your accomplishments a lot more than you thinkthey do. You know, and there's new research from a sociologist and at Stanford.I'm writing a blog post about it right now, who, who proved that people want tohelp more than you want to ask. So this uncovering if we can wrap our headsaround how much more people are cheering for us, and want to hear about oursuccesses than we think they do? Doesn't that give us more real estate, andmore license to go ahead and make those things that we're proud of? morevisible to others?

18:08

Yeah,it's about telling people because people want to hear the good news stories. Ithink we've gone through this era in, you know, in corporate and businesscommunication, where it's been about, talk about your failures, talk about thefailures, the failures, the failures, and you know, what, humans actually wehad to we were able to thrive because we talked about our successes. Where isthat? Where do I go to get that? How do I improve? How do I find things? That'show we survived and it's not just failed? Don't go there. Don't go there? No,we show the way.

Dia Bondi 18:40

Exactly.If we don't, if we focus so much on what not to do, we don't get to payattention to what to do and what to do more of, and how to do more of thatthing. I was just coaching somebody last week about this very idea. And I haveto use this in my coaching practice all the time to say, I can never This is avery low level example. But I can never tell somebody don't talk so fast. Ihave to say speak slowly. there because there is some I don't know, we can'tfill negative space, you know. So if we know what to do more of, and if I hearfrom you, you know the stories of your successes, what went into the wins thatyou own now and can name and claim, it does show others what's possible and thepath to it instead of just protecting against what not to do, which keeps usstagnant.

19:31

Yeah.And then we become so worried about failure. And I think that's what a bigissue in our world is. We're so worried about failure we're being Yes, we haveto show our authenticity to a point. But when we keep only talking aboutfailures, we're not giving anyone the breadcrumbs to the future that theyreally want to have. And so I really believe in us showing the way and talkingabout successes, our wisdoms, our wisdom, our accomplishments, all the goodthings that we can point to not being Pollyanna-esque. You know, we failuresare still part of it. But how do we really shine a light and make sure that oursuccesses aren't stepping into a spotlight. So it's some sort of rarity, thatit's actually something that all day long, we're shining and shimmering andshine. And shimmer is actually the original way back to 1305, I think is thedate my book, but way back when shine, and shimmer is what bragging meant. Andit was then also about bravery. And then it also added in about pride and pridewas a good thing that and then pride morphed into a negative thing. And that'swhen we really became into the factory system, where we all wanted to stay inline, keep your head down, don't stick it out, because you wanted a factorycheck the you know, you wanted that pay. And that's where we started to getinto these organized systems that didn't allow you to stand out, it was reallyhow do you fit in even more.

Dia Bondi 20:49

So Iwant to get into the how I also want to just double click on what you said aminute ago, you said to share your wisdom. And when I think about again, I'm justlistening for the language that you're using, that let people step into owningtheir expertise. When you talk about sharing your wisdom, then it's not a self,it doesn't have to be a selfish extractive act of bragging that eliminatesother people's or overshadows other people's success. It's when you brag youhave an opportunity to share, as you say, the breadcrumbs and to share yourwisdom so that others it can have a positive, it can be a Wayshower, as yousay. So I just I'd like that idea of pairing, bragging and wisdom sharing kindof together in a cozy little nest with one another. I think that's useful.

Lisa Bragg 21:40

And youtouched on a great point there because so many of us have been trained to thinkbragging is so bad, it's taboo. Because what we've started in the last maybe 50years, I don't know, but not that long ago, where it is that bragging was selfaggrandizement. So we forget the word self aggrandizement, which is where wethat puffery, that icky Ness that we feel where you know that I'm better thanyou, I'm putting you down, because look at all the great things I'm doing thatput down feeling that's actually self aggrandizement. But we lump it alltogether under bragging, where bragging really is talking about your successeswith pride. And people sometimes don't like the word pride, I think. I thinkanyone who's listening to this podcast and listening to your wisdom, likelyneeds more pride, we have to have pride in the work we do, because then itelevates what we're doing for even more people.

Dia Bondi 22:29

Wellthink about it, we say to one another, I'm proud of you. I'm so so everyone'sallowed to be proud of you, but ourselves. Like that's, that seems odd. Okay,so let's get into that. Okay, so how do we do this? Like, what if, if I'm like,Okay, this year is the year I'm going to do you know, a better job of owning myaccomplishments and talking about them with the world? Like, where do I start?And how do I actually start actioning this?

22:57

So thisis basic, this is 1-0-1, but we don't do it. This is a brag to yourself first.So it's your own mindset like have that whenever one gives you a kudos don'tslink off the chair, don't hide it, have your brag book, capture thatinformation from people, those little things that people say, write them down.If you're working inside of corporation, take it off the server if you can, andmake sure you have it, write it down on your notebook or send it to youremails, have those things that are there for you. So you can refer back tothem. I still have some of my notes from when I was a broadcast journalist thatwere my kudos and they're really important to have because they they remind youthat from an externally that you've done a good job or you have something worthbragging about and often we need that external you know, the the anointment ofyou are an expert. We need that sometimes to really get ourselves going andunderstanding what our strengths are. So starting with your own brag book isessential. And people like oh wait till I'm more confident. I don't talk somuch about confidence. I talk about courage. So take one step of courageforward to say I'm going to tell people about an award I won. So scary peoplefreak out over putting awards and that's where we say ..

Dia Bondi 24:07

Eventhough an award is meant to be public. It's a badge.

24:12

Uh-huh-huh,like, it is, it's a badge and we need to own it and when we write, becauseoften we want you to announce it on social media and if you're afraid to it'sreally that simple of I won an award whatever it was, I won "x" i wonand just even leave it at that but if that's too scary for you, I won an awardbecause because that is that soft word because I you know whatever ...

Dia Bondi 24:39

.. had a great team behind me so because I youknow because I stuck it out even when it was really difficult because anamazing partnership of fill in the "blank". Can we do that?

24:53

Perfect.it now those are the because it's and that makes it even sweeter when you dothose things. But you have to stand in your self first. "I won."because often what happens is we put all this other stuff about our team andabout the award and all those things. And it's this great big reverse Oscarspeech. It's like we don't have anything to say about ourselves. It's where youflee, you bury the lede, which is a journalism thing, where at the very bottomis what the point you're actually trying to make. You have to flip it, you Iwon the award, and then you say, thanks to my team, you have to put that first.And then people will know and then they'll celebrate and be excited for you.But when you bury it, because you're not confident, and you're not willing totake the courage to put it out there and you want to soften it. That's where itbecomes confusing for people. So own whatever it is that you're trying to talkabout, in a positive way, own that brag and put it out there in the smallestway. So it's just start by even saying it to yourself, "I won thisaward."

Dia Bondi 25:48

I hearthis like three, like this little three part series like I did, I won, I blah.Because and then whatever you want to give credit to. That does not diminishyour ownership of the win or the achievement.

26:08

Don'tever diminish it. Because then that becomes a humble brag. And I think we knowa lot of people know what that is. It's a it's something positive with acomplaint. So it's where you brag. Yep. Yes.

Dia Bondi 26:18

I hearmyself do it. And I can feel it, I can just be like, I can feel it. And it hasthat also, much like that grandiosity or that puffery you mentioned, it alsohas an ick factor, because you're sort of being a little underhanded, and notdirect. And so it, it can also have a little it can also be a little slippery,

26:39

Oh,don't do it. It because it's a complaint plus a brag. So it makes people feeloh, you're complaining. So I won this award, but I'm so tired or, or look atme, I'm picking up my award. But you know, my car, like just anything that'sadds a complaint to it, because you're trying to soften the brag. That's whatthey're trying to do. They're trying to say, Look at me, oh, but like, I'm notworthy of this. And that's really problematic for several reasons. One, itdiminishes your accomplishment, then it also diminishes the people who gave youthe award, or whatever it is that you did account, you know, for thinking aboutour clients, that they gave you an account. I know you're not alwayscelebrating that on social media. But even internally within an office, oh, Iwon this account in but you're Oh, but now it's so much work, like or whateverit is that adding a negative to it. People then think, Oh, you're not happythat you won this award or this contract, or whatever it is. And then also,you're putting down the people who either gave you that contract. So if youcomplain to a client about the work or the award, that's a problem because theygive you that, and these are people who thought you should deserve it. So youneed to be thankful for it, and not diminish it. And also think about thepeople who didn't win it. And you're saying, Oh, well, you know, this humblebrag with it.

Lisa Bragg 27:47

Poor me.

27:49

Poor me,look at me picking up my award, you know, I had, oh, I had to get dressed uplast night to go pick up my award. Like that kind of thing. We see it on socialmedia, it makes us all feel bad. It makes me feel bad for them. And then alsosaying I'm humbled, being humbled by winning this award, banish that be proud,I am thrilled. I am excited. I am honored. You're honored. being humbleddiminishes the award value, you are honored. So flip that saying I'm honored.You know, that's the language you want, not I'm humbled.

Dia Bondi 28:23

it'salmost like we have to tolerate the power that comes with owning ouraccomplishments, stories. Yeah, like to stand in your own power like that.People squirm, but just stay with it.

28:36

Staywith it. And the only people that are squirming, are the people that need toactually do it. There's so many people who are awesome, they get a pass onbragging. So we can look at celebrities, I go through this in the book, butwhat celebrities because we we we want them to talk and brag about themselves.And they go on TV shows all the time. And we want to see the pictures of theirawards we want them to because it's as if it's a proxy for our own lives thatwe want them to brag. Think about cowboys, you know, we're thinking aboutAmerican culture, think about cowboys, think about politicians. Think aboutCEOs, we want a lot of CEOs to brag, because then they're able by talking abouttheir successes, they bring more contracts, they bring higher, higher profileclients more, you know, a higher trust, trust, trust. Trust is a big part ofit. When you're able to communicate that you're doing something at this level.It's really what bragging and self promotion that I talked about is reallyabout, it's how you're here to serve. And when you're doing it, you're tellingpeople, here's how I am here to serve you. And that will then help you earn thetrust so they can give you that higher level client because you've said here'sthe people I've worked with in the past. Look at all the awards. I've won. Oh,automatically. I know Dia she's already got this. I don't even have to worryabout it. Even though I don't know you. I know you've really well, but somebodywas I don't know her but I can see all of the things that she's done. We'vebuilt up social currency and that's what we need to do and it's very loud andnoisy. Lazy era, and I'm not telling people to be loud, I'm telling people tobe purposeful, and to really pick how you want to show up in the world. And todo it in a way that feels good. Because, you know, we're taught to be hiddengems, and that's a problem.

Dia Bondi 30:14

So we'vegot two things here, we've got one, start to collect your trove of braggingapples, write it in your journal, whether your bullet journaling or your youknow, your you've got a digital page you capture it on, but collect that, thattrove of brag bubbles that you can say, yes, these are accomplishments that Ican use as a way to take credit for my genius for my effort and work for my,the grit that I've held off, like the thing that expertise I've built. Okay,that's one thing. The second one is to start to elevate their visibility. Andwith this three part framework, have I won, or I did or I accomplished plus,because and then an explanation or a, you know, a shout out, that doesn'tdiminish your own ownership. What's the third thing that we could do to bragsuccessfully?

Lisa Bragg 31:12

I haveso many things in the book, it's kind of ...

Dia Bondi 31:15

Yeah, Ican't wait. Well, we will for folks, we will put a link to it in in the shownotes. So you can find this book for yourself.

31:21

A thirdthing to help, um, you know what I'm really always about how we help each otherand elevate each other. So I think one of the things I talk about is, when weshine a light on others, that light amplifies back on us. And so be willing, becourageous, have that abundance mindset and not a scarcity mindset to realizethat if I give you kudos and cheer you on that it doesn't diminish me, even ifwe are actually competitors, like, right reifying for that same piece of work.You know what, in some way, it does come back in a positive way that you'reconfident, confident and comfortable with having somebody and showing thatsomebody else is good, when you show that it just somehow elevates. And it'snot just somehow I'm just I'm not qualifying it enough, but it makes you looklike the leader and expert you are because you're not worried aboutcompetition, you're not worried about these small, being diminished. And it'snot back to high school or worrying about other people, you can stand in yourown strength. And so I really advocate for what's called shine theory is wherewe shine the light on other people and help elevate them, and also sistering upwhere some of us need support from time to time to help elevate sistering is ais a construction term where we put a joist, you know, often in floors, wherewe put something underneath it to make it stronger. And so if we can think ofthat, how can we come together to make each other stronger, then we can moveahead together, instead of thinking that this is one might, one piece of pie,kind of idea.

Dia Bondi 32:55

So I'mgoing to take that piece of advice. This weekend, I'll be delivering a TEDxtalk around my book that's coming out as like an auctioneer, and I'm takingwith me a good friend to the Speaker's dinner, which is going to be wonderfulnetworking opportunity. I mean, these folks need to know him. He needs to knowthem. It's like, I'm so excited to connect those. I'm going to actually ask himbefore we go, what specifically he would like me to shine a light on as Iintroduce him to people. So in that way, it's almost like bragging not for him,but sistering Maybe I don't know.

33:30

Yeah, itis, it's sistering up. You're also you're supporting him to grow beyond and sodoing these things, then we'll help him and then you never know how things comeback to you so sistering up and allowing him to shine. It just amplifies. Soyes, absolutely do that. They gave me shivers that you're gonna do that andhelp them you know, I helped think it also helps do we're bigger people when wehelp other people. So that's a big thing is to allow them to shine so good

Dia Bondi 33:57

for younot, and to not like, leave it up to chance that I'm shining a light on thething that is most important to be seen about him right now the accomplishmentsthat he's gotten. So yeah, that's a really, I don't know, we don't need to likeguess do we, if we're going to sister up we can ask one another what's mostimportant that I highlight this year for you based on the goals or where you'regoing or like that?

34:22

Andthat's in the book too, is really being intentional, your for your what's theintention? What is your intention? And then anyone that you're working to help?What is their intention? Because we always mark it to the future us right? Sowe're not worried about our reputation, our past we're thinking about where wewant to go. So your friend, where does he want to go? Instead of giving hisresume which we can all find online? Where does he want to go? Because that'sexciting to people and when you talk to people and you see their passionbecause we're talking about where we're going, that lights them up and soasking him in advance, what's next for you? That's something that will help himto to elevate and for the people that you're talking to. It'll be exciting forthem.

Dia Bondi 35:00

So it'sso perfect that you asked this question around like, what's next for you?Because it's on my list of questions for you, Lisa. Your book is good. Yourbook is coming out in May, I encourage everybody to go get it. What a What adelightful toolkit to help you shine a light on how you've led with who you areand what you've created, the impact you've had. So for you, Lisa, what's nextfor you?

Lisa Bragg 35:24

Yeah, soI want this book to serve as many people as I can, I really believe it's neededthat we need to stop being hidden gems, we need to throw out that bragging istaboo, we need to move beyond that you should, you know, be a good girl, putyour head down and do good work. And eventually someone will notice you, I wantto throw that out. And I want people to really allow themselves to get theopportunities that they already deserve, and desire. And they just need to talkabout it more and let people know how they are here to serve. So that's how I'mhere to serve. And with that, I have different programs and events that I'moffering, but I really want the book to reach as many people as it possibly canso so they can start taking some steps forward. So that's my next year isreally being dedicated to helping this book get out into the world into as manyhands and ears as I can.

Dia Bondi 36:12

So as wealways ask this question at the end of our conversation, which is like, what isit? I mean, if your work is all dedicated, as how I see it is, you know,helping people lead, create a path with who they are, you know, and so when Iwhen I offer that question, you know, what is it for you to lead with who youare? How might you answer that today?

36:36

Yeah,it's, that's a brilliant question to ask, too. I think it you know, becausewe're always changing. And I think it's allowing myself and knowing myself tolead with being bold, and not be my book, you know, being that hidden gem, butbeing bold, and allowing myself to step into this next level of success thatpeople are telling me and people are excited. And I have to allow myself tostep into that level, and to go with it. So leading with who I am notdiminishing myself as a big thing. I'm guilty of that I had past staff whothought I were to patch I was too passionate. And so you try to dim yourselffor other people. And when you do that, that doesn't work, I found that overand over again. So it's being my true self and being bold and direct withkindness and being passionate, and really wanting to serve. And when I'm inthat space and remembering to get back into that space, that's when more goodthings happen to me. So when I lead with with that, that's when that's whengood things happen. That's the shine and shimmer part. So it's it's it's workfor me it's work.

Dia Bondi 37:43

Wherecan people find you? And what can they do with you, Lisa?

37:46

Oh,thank you. Lisabragg.com is my website and on there, I do have a gift for yourlisteners. It's Lisabragg.com/listenerlove and you can get some tools there forfor your pleasure. And then I'm also on social media, you can find me@thatlisabragg or on LinkedIn, of course, @LisaBragg. And then you candefinitely reach out to me for the book, your it's going to be available on May11th. Happy to come and do a talk with your group, virtual or in person andhappy to to share this because I think all of us need to really be seen and beheard so we can get the opportunities we deserve.

Dia Bondi 38:25

Fantastic.And I'm going to give a plug that if you are a leader or four in anorganization that is wanting to reposition itself as a valuable strategicpartner to the rest of the organization. And your team can do a better job ofbragging about the accomplishments that they've made individually orcollectively to help with that initiative. This content may or may not be withwhatever form it is whether you buy, you know a bulk order of books and handthem to your team or you bring Lisa in to run a workshop or do a talk or one ofher programs. This might be a real, a really great accelerator in helping youto reposition either your organization in a market or your function inside ofan organization so that it can get the credit it deserves.

Lisa Bragg 39:12

Thankyou Dia because I want to do want to mention it's not a Me, me, me book, thereis a great chapter that's really about how a leader can help their team toshine and when your team shines what happens for you, you look even better. Sothat's like a really critical piece. So thank you for setting me up andsistering up with me so we have shine together. I really appreciate you rightaway putting it all into action. So you're awesome.

Dia Bondi 39:36

Lovehaving you, Lisa. Thank you.

Lisa Bragg 39:37

Thankyou.

Dia Bondi 39:40

LeadWith Who You Are is a production of Dia Bondi Communications scored, mixed andproduced by Arthur Leon Adams, the third and Executive Produced by MandyMiranda. You can reach out to us at Hello@diabondi.com. If you can like, rate,share and subscribe at Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify or wherever youget your favorite podcasts, go to diabondi.com for shownotes and to learn aboutall it is that we do to help you speak powerfully and lead with who you are.

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