Ring Your Own Chain – A Leadership Lesson From My Dad

Jun 3, 2025 | Tip for a Terrific Tuesday

We don’t like to brag, because bragging has a negative connotation.

What is my last name?

My dad always said, “If you don’t ring your own chain, who’s going to do it?”
And my mother would say, “There your daddy is bragging about what he did.”

We would say, “Mom, you had us. You went through labor, and you had us.”
And my dad would say, “Well, what was I doing?”

My mom said, “When the children were sick, I made chicken soup.”
He said, “Well, who bought the chicken?”

So we learned that it was okay to talk about the good things about ourselves at an early age.

As I grew older, I learned that other people didn’t have that same upbringing where they were told to, as my dad said, ring their own chains.

But, ladies, if you don’t learn to do that, no one’s going to say, “I have just a promotion for you. Come on in and take it.”

We know that studies have said that if there is a job with 10 qualifications, a man would apply if he has only one.

And we, as ladies, won’t apply if we lack one.

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