RUNNING HEAD: Successful Leader Qualities
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[TYPE THE COMPANY NAME]
LEAD 580-Problem Solving for Today Organization
Dr. Sara Garski
Southwestern College of Kansas
Joyce White
5/18/2013
Successful Leader Qualities
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Abstract
Certain qualities are found repeatedly in successful leaders, historically and today. Qualities that
are found repeatedly in a successful leader are honesty, forward-looking, inspirational, and
competency. Oprah Winfrey is one leader that has historically achieved success with the
aforementioned qualities, and continues to build an empire of success with the incorporation of
these qualities in her organizational decisions and leadership of today. With a greater
understanding of these qualities and with a personal assessment of my current leadership traits, a
plan will be discussed on how the integration of these into my role as Manager of Clinical
Practice, OB/GYN at Via Christi Clinic, will enhance my leadership ability and assist in my role
as a leader to achieve success.
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Successful leaders in the world, historically and present day, possess a common thread of
characteristics. This thread of qualities consists of honesty, forward-looking, inspirational, and
competency. When looking to leaders that have possessed these characteristics, Oprah Winfrey
is one leader that readily comes to mind. Oprah is the former host of The Oprah Winfrey Show,
chairwoman and CEO of Harpo Productions, and is chairwoman, CEO, and CCO of the Oprah
Network. Her characteristic traits of leadership are evident in her 25 year history of success with
the Oprah Winfrey Show, her established global audience and her $2.7 billion net worth
(Goudreau, 2010). Oprah did not achieve the success that she is enjoying today without honesty
and integrity, a forward-looking desire to be innovative and “different” than all of the rest,
inspiration and motivation to touch the lives of many, and without the competency that she
readily demonstrated for her millions of viewers. In looking to the character traits possessed by
such an inspirational leader, and assessing, as well as evaluating my current leadership traits, I
hope to determine qualities that can be incorporated in to my leadership style that will enhance
my position and assist in achieving leadership success.
Honesty and integrity are virtues in all individuals; however, they have a special significance
for leaders (Pierce, 2011). Integrity is the relationship between word and action, and honesty
refers to being truthful or non-deceitful (Pierce, 2011). The bond between the qualities forms the
foundation of a trustworthy relationship between a leader and followers. Oprah Winfrey had the
ability to inspire trust within her organization as well as among her audience. She demonstrated
this trust in many ways, but the one that comes easily to mind is the manner in which she
handled her “My Favorite Things” episodes. Oprah presented a list of products and services that
she enjoyed and was fond of to each person in her audience. The companies whose products she
gave to the audience were prohibited from advertising the product with reference to The Oprah
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Winfrey Show. “Trust is cited as being the reason for avoiding any appearance of paid
endorsement” (Howard, 2006). The rationale for this approach was that she had the trust of her
audience and her audience knew that she was not recommending a product based on a paid
advertisement, but rather because she truly liked the product. She portrayed to her viewers that
her judgment and her advice was not something that could be bought. Oprah established a trust
and honesty while she demonstrated integrity as a true leader.
The next trait that Oprah Winfrey entails as a successful leader is being forward-looking. A
forward looking leader is one that can imagine and articulate exciting future possibilities
(Unknown, 2011). Successful leaders are able to look at all of the resources available to them,
finances, people, resources and organizational capabilities and visualize a plan to move them
from the present to the future within the organizational mission. One of Oprah’s strengths is her
ability as a leader to create a vision for her success, communicate that vision to those around her
and to be resolute in its execution (Goudreau, 2010). Oprah was able to create a vision and
clearly define and share that vision with others in order to make it come true.
An additional characteristic which is necessary for successful leaders is that of being
inspirational. Oprah exhibited strength in being inspirational to others by sharing her personal
dedication and continued resilience to those she worked with and to those she shared her stories
with in her audience. Winfrey is able to inspire her staff, her audience and her colleagues
through her enormous contribution through humanitarian work (Howard, 2006). Her
characteristic trait of motivation offers those she comes in contact with, either in her organization
or by watching her on the television, to feel within them a desire to be better and to achieve
success.
Finally, a successful leader must entail the trait of competency. Competency is defined as
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the ability of an individual to do a job properly. A competency is a set of defined behaviors that
provide a structured guide enabling the identification, evaluation and development of the
behaviors in individual employees (Wikepedia The Free Encyclopedia, 2013). Oprah has a
strong sense and ability to demonstrate competence in her role as leader of her organization(s).
Oprah utilizes a participative leadership approach and surrounds herself with people who are
smarter in ways in which she is not (Howard, 2006). When Winfrey needs reassurance that she
is moving in the right direction, she relies on her staff to provide that guidance. However, she is
confident that the daily operation of her business and the details she incorporates with her
knowledge and competence will move her organization to achieve success. She demonstrates a
strong quality of competence in the operation of her business.
In reviewing my own leadership traits in correlation with those outlined in the success of my
chosen leader, Oprah Winfrey, it is evident to me that the trait I must concentrate on foremost is
that of being forward-looking. I appreciate a “plan” in my daily leadership role and rely heavily
on what must be done on a day to day basis, however it is difficult for me to envision where we
are headed and how we will get there. The organization I am currently working with is in the
midst of making many changes, both as a global organization and within our subdivision of
OB/GYN. The difficulty for me it to know how our small piece of the organization fits in to the
overall picture and to understand how I can assist in getting there. The organization is in the
midst of closing units at the hospital that greatly affect our physicians and we experience daily
stress, unease, and concern for “what the future holds” for OB/GYN within the clinic. Along
with the physicians, I struggle to visualize the forward-looking impact of the changes on our
specialty. As the manager of the OB/GYN clinical operation, it will be important to stay active
and involved in the changes and address concerns that may impact the specialty as well as the
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staff. Communication of changes as they occur and impact OB/GYN, will reinforce the trust that
the staff have learned to instill in me. I believe I entail the honesty and trust with the staff and
physicians, and that I provide daily inspiration and competence to do what we must do “today”
with the hopes that our specialty and the vision of what we are able to contribute to the clinic as a
whole and ultimately to our patients will be seen as an added value to our overall success.
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References
Goudreau, J. (2010, October 22). How To Lead Like Oprah. Retrieved from forbes.com:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2010/10/22/how-to-lead-like-oprah-winfreyown-rachael-ray-dr-oz-phil/
Howard, D. (2006, May 28). Share your voice on Yahoo. Retrieved from A Case Study of
Management Style: http://voices.yahoo.com/management-style-41231.html
Pierce, J. &. (2011). Leaders and the Leadership Process (6th edition). New York: McGrawHill.
Unknown. (2011). Focus on the Future: Be a Forward Looking Leader. The Hunt Executive
Search, Inc., Vol. 12, Issue 1. Retrieved from
http://www.huntsearch.com/viewdetails.asp?id=1101
Wikepedia The Free Encyclopedia. (2013, May 17). Retrieved from Competence (human
resources): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competence_(human_resources)