Oprah Winfrey has several superior leadership qualities that have guided her success. She is a visionary, a tremendous communicator, an intellect, but most of all, she inspires others by being herself. When Oprah first began her talk show, she was very honest with the American people about her struggle with weight loss and her tumultuous upbringing. She gained the trust of millions who welcomed her into their living rooms each day at 4:00 pm. Her humanistic approach was refreshing during a time of tabloid trash. Oprah is strong in her beliefs, but utilizes experts and other leaders to lend advice. Some include Maya Angelou, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Nate Berkus, Dr. Beck, Dr. Berman and Gayle King. Moreover, Oprah’s passion for humankind unites America to give back. Oprah’s hard work and persistence are exemplary. She is forthright and compassionate; strong and sincere. She maximizes the strengths of her team through each medium hoping their best efforts will motivate the viewer, reader and/or listener to start saying, “yes” to their lives and live them accordingly.
Oprah Winfrey was only four years old when she dreamt of a life beyond her grandmother’s Mississippi farm. The parishioners at her grandmother’s church said Oprah had the gift of gab. When she was six years old, she moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother. She still loved talking, but her voice was silenced from ages nine to thirteen because she was sexually molested by male relatives. Oprah became pregnant at age fourteen and lost her son in infancy. Oprah was on a downward spiral. She ran away from home, even spent time in a juvenile detention center until her father, Vernon Winfrey, moved her to Nashville, Tennessee and saved her life. Her father was a strict man. Oprah said, “he had some concerns about me making the best of my life, and would not accept anything less than what he thought was my best (www.achievement.org, p. 2).” Oprah enrolled at Tennessee State University and soon after won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant, which launched her first broadcasting job. A few years later, Oprah moved to Baltimore to host a television show called “People Are Talking.” She was later recruited to host AM Chicago, which later became The Oprah Winfrey Show.
In an interview with biographer, Kitty Kelley, Oprah said, “I have never felt prevented from doing anything because I was black or a woman… I never in my life felt oppressed…It doesn’t matter how victimized any of us have been, we’re all responsible for our lives (Bayard, 2010, p. 3).” Oprah chose optimism, she chose perseverance and mostly, she chose to believe in herself despite the roadblocks in her life. During my ‘Evening with Oprah’ at the Live Your Best Life Conference, Oprah described her first job as a news anchor. The executives dissuaded her from making personal connections in her stories. They also wanted her appearance to be acceptable for America so they sent her for a consultation with plastic surgeons and flew her to New York to ‘de-frizz’ her hair. It wasn’t until her hair completely fell out that Oprah felt liberated. This failure turned into a great success because when the executives asked her to leave the news, they gave her an opportunity to talk with people about ‘real life issues.’
References:
Academy of Achievement- Oprah Winfrey Biography (2010, August 9). Retrieved from www.achievement.org
O, The Oprah Magazine, (2010). Words That Matter: A Little Book of Life Lessons. New York, NY: Hearst Communications, Inc.
