The Oprah Effect: Leadership Secrets of Oprah
Stacey Chun
PA 762 – Leading Change Across Sectors
May 15, 2015
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Oprah Gail Winfrey’s influence reaches almost all corners of the Earth and has been
compared to that of the Pope’s power (Garson, 2011). Best known as “Oprah”, she was born in
the South, in 1954 during the era of desegregation. Oprah lived a humble childhood with
various members of her family and has been a leader in media for 44 years. She started as a
teenager in radio, with stints in news anchoring, daytime television, and movies (Garson, 2011).
Subsequently, she became a media mogul, trailblazer in modern culture, and acclaimed
philanthropist. Her tough upbringing drove her to make the most of her education and aim to
ultimately make the world a better place for everyone by utilizing her leadership skills.
Oprah is a “renaissance woman” (Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2014) with an
extensive list of achievements including being the first Miss Black Tennessee, the first black
woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show, the youngest person to be named
Broadcaster of the Year by the International Television and Radio Society, the first black woman
to own a studio and production company, the first black billionaire, and the only person to be
listed in Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the 20th Century five years in
a row (Garson, 2011).
Leadership Style & Attributes
Although, it is hard to narrow Oprah’s leadership style to one attribute, based on her
numerous achievements and awards received, she best embodies a transformational leader.
Transformational leaders empower and lift their followers so that they themselves can become
leaders in their own right and also provide a “transcendent purpose as their mission—one that
addresse[s] the higher-order needs of their followers” (Conger, 2013, p. 378). Oprah’s
leadership style is not a selfish one, but instead is an empowering style. She is:
…able now to touch all of those people, which is really what we’re all looking to do and
all of us have the ability to do it, at whatever level you are. At whatever level, and I
[Oprah] always say[s] to people, oh, I have a big stage. Some people have a smaller
stage (Stanford, 2014).
She has brought numerous protégés, such as Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and Rachel Ray, under your veil of
influence and they have all been independently successful after branching out from Oprah’s
show (Garson, 2011). Oprah promoted these leaders in their industries because of the positive
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influence they could have to society with their expertise in health, wellness, and food.
Furthermore, she opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa in
order to address the need for schools and to cultivate “future leaders of the country” (Garson,
2011, p. 144).
In addition to her ability to be a transformative leader, she has been able to innovate
and continue to be authentic. Oprah started her renowned career as a talk show host, but was
able to leverage her relationships and influence to create paths of success in production,
magazines, radio, retail, and eventually her own cable television network (Garson, 2011). Her
ability to grow and sustain success in these diversified areas shows her capacity to innovate to
keep up with her follower’s current needs and wants.
Social Dynamics
Authenticity and charisma combined with her transformational leadership style has
contributed to Oprah’s immensely loyal following. Along the continuum of leadership styles,
Oprah has “vision, tenacity, intellectual challenge, self-sacrifice, and eloquence” which would
characterize her as charismatic leader (Shuffler et al., 2013, p. 158). These skills have helped
her obtain positive acclaim from employees, competitors, and the public alike. Oprah has been
known to give gifts large and small to her staff and the public (Garson, 2011). Additionally,
according to Garson, Oprah has “told journalists that her success with employees comes from
her consideration for them: no yelling or mistreatment and no talking down to people” (p. 70).
No matter what, she gives and earns respect, whether you are a friend or foe. Phil Donahue
was the king of daytime television talk shows before Oprah came along and “toppled” him, but
he has “…praise[d] her ability to connect with her audience, pointing with admiration to the
speed with which she gained huge markets: …comparing her ascent to a skyrocket” (Garson,
2011, p. 69).
She has interacted with a multitude of people over her career ranging from celebrities
to convicts, but no matter who she was interacting with, she always kept in mind that they
were all humans and no one person was better than another (Stanford, 2014). Growing up in
the time of desegregation and having a strong foundation from her grandmother and father has
contributed to her ethical views on the world and people. Oprah believes people are innately
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good and she does not see color (Stanford, 2014). Although, she believes that all people should
be equal, she also realizes that in today’s society they are not yet equal. Oprah has attempted
to help those less fortunate and those without a voice through her various philanthropic
activities.
As Garson quoted, Oprah’s basic philosophy is to“…always [try] to have a shiny
moment” because this ‘sharing’ that is ‘self-fulfilling’ gives others ‘validation and appreciation’”
(2011, p. 11). These tiny gems along with Oprah’s humanitarian work have led some admirers
to propose she be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (Garson, 2011, p. 13). Her tremendous
followership of about 20 million viewers a day and being the only person to be listed in Time
magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the 20th Century five years in a row is just
a sample of her power of influence (Garson, 2011, p. 10).
Change Management Approach
As powerful as Oprah is, she knows her strengths and her weaknesses when
approaching various situations. If she were tasked with advising the City of Chicago regarding
the Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) financial crisis she would tell them three things. First, she
would admit her lack of expertise in the matter and suggest that they tap their resources that
best know how to resolve the issue. Oprah believes each person has a purpose and “nobody
can touch you if you have aligned your personality with your own purpose in the world”
(Stanford, 2014). The people who would resolve the issue would probably not include the
leaders in place today who have put them in this mess, since the resulting crisis did not show
their fulfillment of their “purpose”. Secondly, Oprah would alert them that failure is acceptable
as long as change happens because “…your life is bigger than one experience” (Stanford, 2014).
Oprah believes failure is a cue to alert people to start moving in another direction and “the way
to get through challenge is to figure out the next right move instead of getting overwhelmed
with ‘ALL OF THIS’” (Stanford, 2014). People need to get as much from the losses as they do
from the victories (Stanford, 2014), therefore CPS needs to learn from their past actions to
create a new future. Lastly, she would offer her ‘platform’ to help shed light on the issue.
Although, Oprah does not typically get involved in political issues, she is not opposed to using
her influence to educate people on various social issues, especially related to education. Oprah
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believes that the path to freedom and the way to end poverty is through education (Garson,
2011, p. 55). She would advise CPS and the City of Chicago to realize the need to make an
investment in people who they are serving because the children are just as important as them.
Oprah would express to them that the core of everyone is the same; we are all equal and
deserve to have sustained access to education.
Blind Followers
It is definitely no easy feat to have more admirers in the United States than the Pope
(Carson, 2011), but this can lead Oprah’s followers to follow her without question. Luckily for
the world, Oprah has always had good intentions and acted ethically. There is a fine line
between transformational and charismatic leadership, which can easily lead to destructive
leadership if the person in power takes advantage of the situation and becomes selfish instead
of always putting the team’s (i.e. society’s) needs above all. It is admirable that Oprah has not
entered the “dark side of charisma” to take advantage of her charm to “hide ulterior motives”
(Craig & Kaiser, 2013, p. 444). She almost has a spell over her followers and always uses that
for good. The Angel Network was created by her to “encourage philanthropy and volunteerism
by people who have the means and energy to help those in need” and has raised more than
$60 million for social causes like education, housing, and natural disaster relief (Garson, 2011,
p. 77). The magnitude of power that Oprah has can easily turn into corruption, but she has
always listened to her “internal [moral] compass” (Stanford, 2014) to avoid that.
Would I Want to Lead Like Oprah?
Believe it or not, my very first book report in elementary school was about Oprah and
there was something about her that has forever interested me, so it is only fitting that I study
her leadership skills in the final chapter of my educational career. It is amazing that her
relatability translated to a child like myself and 20+ years later, I still admire her now that I am a
workingwoman. I would not have imagined that she would have had such longevity in her
success, but Oprah has grown as a leader over the past decades. I most admire Oprah as a
leader because of her ability to be an authentic person. It is so easy and natural for her to
connect with every type of person in a positive manner. Secondly, she knows the strength of
her power and utilizes that to spread her wealth to make the world a better place instead of
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being selfish and focusing solely on her personal needs. Lastly, she supports the success of
everyone and tries to uplift society. She does not judge people for their pasts and teaches
people that failure is ok because failure drives change (Stanford, 2013). According to the
complexity theory, change leads to innovation and learning (Marion, 2013). Her consciousness
of the mechanism of change has led to her many years of success as a leader and therefore I
vote for Oprah to be the new face on the twenty-dollar bill!
References
Conger, J. A. (2013). Charismatic leadership. In M. G. Rumsey (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of
Leadership (pp. 376-391). New York: Oxford University Press.
Craig, S. B. & Kaiser, R. B. (2013). Destructive leadership. In M. G. Rumsey (Ed.), The Oxford
Handbook of Leadership (pp. 439-454). New York: Oxford University Press.
Garson, H. S. (2011). Oprah Winfrey: A Biography. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood.
Marion, R. (2013). Organizational leadership and complexity mechanisms. In M. G. Rumsey
(Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Leadership (pp. 184-202). New York: Oxford University
Press.
Shuffler, M. L., Burke, C. S., Kramer, W. S., & Salas, E. (2013). Leading teams: Past, present, and
future perspectives. In M. G. Rumsey (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Leadership (pp.
144-166). New York: Oxford University Press.
Stanford Graduate School of Business. (2014, April 28). Oprah Winfrey on career, life and
leadership [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DlrqeWrczs