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Love, Leadership, and Legacy: What Dolly Parton Understood

I have always dreamed of meeting President Barack and Michelle Obama, Tim McGraw, and Dolly Parton.

Unfortunately, I never met Dolly.

Like the rest of her fans, I was saddened by her passing and just sat quietly for a bit. Then I thought about a presentation I gave a few years ago: Love, Leadership, and Legacy.

Dolly understood something about leadership that many people miss: Love is a leadership practice.

bell hooks described love as an active commitment that requires care, commitment, trust, responsibility, respect, and knowledge.

Dolly didn't just talk about loving more and judging less.

She lived it.

Through her Imagination Library, she has put hundreds of millions of books into children's hands. She quietly purchased band uniforms for high school students. She helped fund COVID-19 vaccine research.

She had resources. She had influence. She had a platform. And she used them in a selfless manner.

That's what makes her legacy so powerful.

We tend to think of leadership in terms of what we accomplish: the position, the revenue, the growth, the awards, the results.

But what if we asked a different question?

What does your leadership make possible for other people?

That's where love and leadership intersect.

Because leadership isn't just about what happens while you're in the room.

It's also about what remains after you leave it.

The person who became more confident because you believed in them.

The opportunity someone received because you opened a door.

The dignity you protected when you could have used your power differently.

The person whose life is better because you were there.

That's legacy.

Dolly didn't have to wait until the end of her life to create hers.

Neither do we.

So here's the question I'm sitting with—and perhaps it's one worth asking yourself:

What are people experiencing as a result of your love and leadership?

It's not just what they say about you.

It's what they experienced because of you.

The confidence they gained.

The opportunity they received.

The dignity you protected.

The difference you made.

Because someday, that's what they'll remember.