“I was not a great singer. I’m still not a great singer, but I got a style, I like that part.”

It’s amazing to me that Dolly Parton thinks she’s not a great singer. This is a woman who has sold, according to Wikipedia, over 100 million records. 100 million records? To hear someone who isn’t a great singer? Hard to imagine. And if even the national treasure Dolly Parton herself recognizes that she’s not good at something, shouldn’t we as leaders be able to do the same thing?

There’s a lot of debate in the leadership space about strengths and development areas. Arguments as to whether you should only ever focus on those things that you’re already good at, or whether you should try to lift the things you’re not great at to the level of the things you are good at. I am not here to tell you I know the one right answer to that question – because I don’t believe there is one. What I do believe is that all of us are a lot like Dolly’s guitars. We have thicker strings, and we have thinner strings. The notes they produce when we pluck or strum them is different. And it’s the magical combination of all the strings that creates amazing music.

Recognizing our thick and thin strings as leaders gives us opportunities to show up as innately human for the people we are privileged to lead. It gives people around us opportunities to bring all their strings to the table, knowing they’ll be valued and that we’ll embrace the thin strings right along with the thick ones. Style might be Dolly’s thick string, but she isn’t half-bad at singing, and it’s the whole package that we need.

Be like Dolly. Love all you’ve got.