My experience with television programming has changed over time. Since I was of age, television programs have come and gone. However, while some television programs have had short-lived impacts, others have remained influential for a number of decades. An example of a television program that has had a major impact on my life is the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah Winfrey is the personality behind the Oprah Winfrey Show, and I have been observing her since I was very young. Consequently, I consider Oprah to be one of the most intriguing people in my past and current communities. Oprah Winfrey has run a talk show for over three decades, and she has been a television personality for a longer duration.
Since I first became familiar with Oprah Winfrey, I have witnessed her undergo and engineer incredible transformations. Oprah is also considered as one of the most influential women in the world. Her position as an African American of great influence is not in doubt. Personally, I have known and have been observing Oprah Winfrey for the last fifteen years. Over the course of that period, Oprah has done things that have prompted me to rethink my earlier understanding of the human race. This paper is about Oprah Winfrey, the outstanding talk show host, philanthropist, and businesswoman.
One of the most intriguing factors about Oprah is her humble background. Unlike most of the people in her position of influence, Oprah shares a remarkably poor background. Oprah was born in 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Oprahs mother was a single teenager at the time of her birth. As a child, Oprah changed residences a number of times when she was living with her mother, grandmother, and father. Oprah also confesses to having been abused when she was a teenager. Another remarkable fact about Oprah is that of all her guardians, only her grandmother encouraged her to develop her natural abilities as an orator. However, her natural gifts still flourished even under unfavorable environments. After digging through her past, I found that Oprahs breakthrough came when she revived a morning talk show in Chicagos WLS-TV. After her stint as a morning show host, Oprah gained momentum to achieve the influence she had by the time I became acquainted with her in the late 1990s.
When I first started watching the Oprah Winfrey Show, I was only a teenager, and I found the show to be quite irritating. During that time, my mother would religiously watch the show, and I had no option but to do the same. At first, I could not understand how, as a respectable talk show host Oprah would be more emotional than her guests or her audience. During the show, Oprah would often breakdown in tears or break into emotional chants of condemnation. My mother often told me that I would one day understand the concept of the show. However, I have spent fifteen years observing Oprah, and I am yet to become one of her diehard fans. From the onset, I was skeptical about Oprahs show because I found the hosts display of emotions pretentious and coerced. Nonetheless, over the last decade and a half, I have realized that my initial assessment of Oprah might have been wrong. There are several aspects of Oprahs life and actions that go beyond the norm and redefine personalities.
Oprah Winfrey is an ordinary African American who has captured the attention of more than one generation. When I was growing up, my mother considered what Oprah said to be the final word on any matter. Oprahs talk show has captured the attention of women viewers across the world. Consequently, Oprahs voice has prevailed upon women in both the United States and the rest of the world. The most intriguing aspect of Oprah as a talk show host is that unlike other female television personalities, she did not capture the attention of women or men using her refined looks and fashion choices. Oprah was able to draw audiences even though she had the looks of an average African American woman.
Today and in the past, the television platform has favored women with above-average looks. Furthermore, most female television personalities embrace trends that are beyond the reach of ordinary American women. My mother often reminded me that Oprah first inspired her when she (Oprah) lost an incredible amount of weight and managed to maintain her new form. According to Oprah, her weight loss was motivated by her personal choices as a woman as opposed to conforming to a particular body image. In the course of her work, Oprah has focused on inspiring individuals to overcome their life-hurdles. In addition, Oprah has often championed the rights of minorities through her various media platforms. Oprahs influence started on television, but it has since spread to books, radio, magazines, charity programs, and websites (Miller 1).
It is important to note that even though Oprah has amassed a lot of personal wealth in the course of her activities, she has done it quietly and with grace. In her biography, Oprah says that the decision to syndicate her show nationally opened her to several freedoms, financially. Unlike most other televisions personalities, Oprahs salesmanship is almost undetectable. Oprah advocates for products that she believes in and those that have a direct impact on her personal life (Winfrey 84). However, Oprahs sales influence in America and around the world is unrivaled. In addition, Oprah has not been involved in any financial scandal in the course of her career, as is common with other billionaires. The number of lawsuits that Oprah has handled is quite low, considering her stature.
Oprah has broken several records in the course of her existence. Oprahs record-breaking tendencies started back in 1986 when her talk show became the most popular one in America at the time. The show remained popular until the time of Oprahs retirement in 2009. The ability to maintain a prime position in television rankings is a testament to Oprahs superior personality, given that almost all the shows that were popular in the 1980s have since become obscure. Oprah has also made several record-breaking financial milestones. For instance, Oprah was the first African American billionaire in history. In addition, her savvy business attitude prompted a university to formulate a business course that was aptly named Oprah Winfrey, the Tycoon.
Oprah is also said to have brought in more than one million votes for Barrack Obama when she supported him during the 2008 presidential elections. There are few other media personalities who have a charity outreach that can surpass that of Oprah Winfrey. Among Oprahs extraordinary actions is establishing a luxurious girls school in South Africa. In an epic television moment, Oprah once presented her entire audience with brand new cars (Nagle 85).
Oprah is an outstanding personality because her career has been original throughout. In addition, several other people have modeled their actions in accordance with her life and teachings. Although human beings are susceptible to errors, I have not witnessed Oprah making any mistakes that are worth mentioning. Therefore, I believe that Oprah is the most outstanding and intriguing personality that I have ever come across in my community.
Works Cited
Miller, Matthew. The Wealthiest Black Americans. 2009. Web.
Nagle, Jeanne. Oprah Winfrey: Profile of a Media Mogul, Chicago, IL: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Winfrey, Oprah. What I know for sure, New York, NY: Macmillan, 2014. Print.
This paper discusses the transformational leadership attributes of Oprah Winfrey because of her tremendous accomplishments in life. She encountered many challenges while growing up but remained committed throughout her life. She made critical decisions about her education and excelled at all levels. The obstacles she faced in life did not slow her down but they were an inspiration to her. The video illustrates Oprahs leadership qualities which prove that she is a truly transformational leader.
Throughout her career, Oprah has used television as a platform to enrich the lives of other people. Through her television show Oprah Winfrey Show , it is possible to comprehend her transformational leadership attributes. Oprah is a charismatic leader who has kept her personality over the years. She recognizes her social responsibility to society and supports girls education and leadership programs. As a transformation leader, she has a vision for the girls.
She has also inspired and motivated the girls she supports. Oprahs obligation for intellectual stimulation has enabled her to support girls education in Africa. Oprah is influential and has high integrity. Her followers positively acknowledged her participation in American politics during the Barrack Obama presidential campaign where she made massive contributions.
Oprah has been able to focus on individuals in her programs. This is a leadership attribute that encourages individual considerations. Oprah has also been able to take an individualized approach to empower people. The people she has helped in her programs eventually live better lives and are able to overcome challenges. Her transformational leadership attributes also emerge from her ability to mentor others in life. She is also an enabler who facilitates people to gain emotional strength and vision to pursue their interests.
Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi is an incredible leader who made massive contributions to the achievement of freedom in India. He had a difficult life from childhood but never gave up. Gandhi studied law to become a successful lawyer. He employed non-violent methods and worked with other Indians to resist the British military operations in India. The scholars efforts were helpful for the transformation of India.
Mahatma Gandhi exhibited some transformational leadership attributes in the way he conducted himself. Gandhi was influential and managed to work with his followers to change the state of affairs in India. As a transformational leader, Gandhi helped his followers to make greater contributions towards the achievement of freedom in India. Gandhi had a strong discipline and believed that Indians needed to participate in everything that was necessary to set them free from oppression.
Gandhi had the leadership abilities for engaging masses and was able to develop an individual connection with every person within the crowd. He managed to work with his followers without discrimination. Gandhi offered to die as a martyr so long as the Indian people achieved equality. He used this strategy of self-sacrifice to win the trust of his followers. Furthermore, Gandhis belief systems were simple but deep. He communicated his belief systems to his followers using humble ways.
For example, Gandhi believed that Indians deserved to be free from the British oppression; he communicated this belief until every Indian saw the need to be free from enslavement. Gandhi also communicated his vision for India to his followers and implored them to follow his mental picture of non-violent resistance to the British soldiers activities. He also empowered his followers by resisting the British order against salt businesses.
The greatest transformations come from the smallest changes, a simple change in your behavior that can change your world and reshape your future. From these words, this little girl, who has fought from birth to survive, has started. Her grandmother helped her to form her ambitious character, who became that woman who inspired many other women to confront violence, injustice and to be confident of themselves. Besides their abilities in achieving their dreams. From a teenager who suffers from addiction, sexual harassment, and psychological problems after she was raped at the age of twelve. So that character, which is a mixture of challenge and determination to succeed despite the color of her skin. She managed to become a brilliant name in the American media and the world. She is the first black-skinned millionaire lady who has been able to be a global personality who is attracted by networking and newspapers. And that the media inspiration for many women is the owner of the largest production company and the largest charitable donor to support women in Africa. She called Oprah Winfrey.
Her Childhood
That child was born on January 29, 1954, from unmarried parents. Her grandmother took care of her after her birth to begin her life journey on a small farm in Mississippi. Moreover, she tried to make her a strong girl that everyone would respect her when she wanted to work. Winfrey started reading at the age of two and a half. Winfrey enrolled in kindergarten, but she skipped that stage because of her intelligence and distinction. So, she was transferred to the third grade directly. At the age of six, after the death of her grandmother, she moved to live with her mother in a neighborhood in Wisconsin, USA, and it was a poor neighborhood and not safe for her.
At the age of twelve, she moved to live with her father in Tennessee and there she started giving speeches in social gatherings and churches. Here was the turning point where she wanted to be that girl who was getting money for words. After that, she was sexually assaulted several times and became a mother in her fourteenth year, when she gave birth to her child who died immediately after his birth. Because of the difficult life, she was subjected to and abuse, she became addicted to heroin and cocaine. This prompted her to move again to her father, where she had a better life. This transition was a turning point in her life when her father forced her to read a book every week and five words from the dictionary every night, according to strict rules. As she became a superior student. Also, she participated in many dramatic clubs, debates and the student council at the school. Then Winfrey obtained a full scholarship to study at Tennessee State University after she won the Alex Club Public Speaking Competition.
Her Professional Life
She began her work as a media reporter for a radio channel at the age of 19 and then moved to Baltimore where she worked as a broadcaster for a talk show called ‘People Are Talking’ after the success of the program she moved to Chicago, where she began to present the program AM Chicago.
Oprah Winfrey has introduced a special talk show called ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’, which has become one of the national programs. Oprah has taken ownership of this program, and its production company has become responsible for it, making it more famous and rich. She finished the program in 2011 to work on her new network the Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah Winfrey turned into a prominent media face after taking the Chicago program to first place, attracting cinematic attention. She took part in Stephen Spielberg’s ‘The Color Purple’ and achieved outstanding success until she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Winfrey’s focus is on media programs, even her success in the movie ‘The Color Purple’, she did not work until 2016 in Greenleaf, the first television work to be broadcasted on her television
Winfrey is a rights activist for children’s rights. She also donated millions to universities to continue her scholarship program. She won the Bob Hope Award for Humanity from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and is considered to be her first win. She is also famous for being an activist for animal rights.
Her Role in Society
Oprah Winfrey is a talk show host, producer, actress, and philanthropist. By becoming one of the famous people has Oprah helped to change this dynamic early in her career by using her platform in communication to open doors for other people. Her willingness is to help others and to be sure others are guided in positive and how much passions she has to see the greater good in other, her biggest role is to help young woman and girls. Oprah wanted to see that that young woman and girl to come out of poverty and opened a new school for teenagers. She doesn’t want anyone to get through what she has gone through. Her whole point is of being alive is to evolve into the complete person you were intended to be. Her goal is that both women and girls should be educated so that they can have good grades. She also starts TV shows, so that she can help teenagers and woman to have. She wants to change other life. She wants to change other’s life with everything she can, for example, she does TV show, she also has an Internet page where people can contact her. She wants everyone to get a good education and out of poverty.
Dying is a phase we all go through when we are ill, murdered, or through any other form of death. As I think about dying I think about the process people go through when they are losing their loved ones. When we lose someone, we go through different stages of coping such as grief, mourning, and the overall funeral experience as a whole. One thing, many people need to deal with when losing a loved one is the overall eulogy of their person. An eulogy is defined as a speech or some type of writing that praises and gives a thought of a person or something highly, typically someone who has just died. Eulogies are used to put some light and perspective on things especially when a person who just lost their life. It is a sort of remembrance of that specific person. The eulogy I will be using throughout my essay is Oprah Winfrey’s Eulogy for Rosa Parks, which will help me connect with the stages of coping such as grief, mourning, and the overall funeral experience as a whole. In the book Death, Society, and Human Experiences, Robert Kastenbaum goes into depth when talking about death by explaining and analyzing death as a whole, as a society, and through experiences. In this paper, I will be using ideas from Kastenbaum’s book to explain the understanding of how the analysis of eulogy demonstrates how it engages with grief, mourning, and the funeral process as a whole.
No one ever deals with coping the same way, we all deal with losing someone differently. The overall experience of losing someone is a life-changing experience. Grief is one of the stages of coping with someone’s death. Grief or grievance is a term that is defined as feeling deep sorrow, especially caused by someone’s death. In Oprah Winfrey’s eulogy for Rosa Parks, she expresses her grieving for a person whom she feels is a hero in her eyes by talking and remembering the times she met Rosa Parks. In her eulogy, she expresses gratitude and sorrow, “I would not be standing here today nor standing where I stand every day had she not chosen to sit down. I know that. I know that. I know that. I know that, and I honor that” (Oprah, 2005). Oprah shows her grief through praising the legacy of Rosa Parks and what she did for not just herself, but also for the people of color. In Kastenbaum’s book, he claims that “Mental health experts now agree with the poets that grief is a human, not necessarily a weak or pathological response to loss… Nevertheless, there are situations in which grief is so extreme, so debilitating, and so enduring that the individual seems heading for catastrophe. The difference between a “normal” and a potentially endangering grief response has; therefore, become a focus of interest” (Kastenbaum Ch.10 pg. 350). I do believe as Kastenbaum stated that we grieve differently meaning that some of us feel more catastrophic over a death and others see it as “normal”. Grieving has many stages and many meanings and ways people deal with the death of a loved one.
Mourning is another stage of coping when someone so close to you passes on. Mourning is defined as the expression of deep sorrow for someone who has died, typically involving and following certain conventions such as wearing black clothes. Both mourning and grief are very similar in how to deal with death. Dressing in black clothing as a mourning mechanism is associated with death. In Oprah Winfrey’s eulogy for Rosa Parks, she expresses her mourning through her expression of black clothing. When Oprah speaks so profoundly about the legacy that Rosa Parks left she is shown in the video of her eulogy speech to be dressed in a black dress. She is representing her clothing choices to associate the death of someone who was a hero to her and embodied power. Not only did Oprah wear black as a symbol of death, but as a mourning mechanism that she empowered throughout the speech that was delivered. According to Kastenbaum, mourning expresses “is the culturally patterned expression of the bereaved person’s thoughts and feelings” (Kastenbaum Ch. 10 pg. 345). People deal with death and associate death differently, when I think of death and how to deal with the death of a person I think of darkness and associate the color black when mourning the death of a specific person. According to Kastenbaum, “People express their loss is not universal, however. These expressions vary from culture to culture and also change over time” (Kastenbaum Ch. 10 pg. 345).
The last stage of coping or dealing with death as a whole is the overall funeral process as a whole. When a person dies there is a process of how and what to do to help the person be laid to rest. Funerals are services that are held to memorialize a deceased person with their body present. In Oprah Winfrey’s eulogy for Rosa Parks, she speaks with so much gratitude, “I realized that God uses good people to do great things. And I’m here today to say a final thank you, Sister Rosa, for being a great woman who used your life to serve, to serve us all” (Oprah 2005). In this part of her eulogy, she shows and demonstrates that if it wasn’t for Rosa Park’s courage that day she or any other person of color wouldn’t be standing in this world. Oprah tells her final thank you for representing and letting Rosa Park’s soul be laid to rest. In Kastenbaum’s book, he claims that funerals are a process, that includes family members of the person who passed on to be considered to “take the initiative, giving instructions for cremation or burial and disposal of personal property. The physician may be interested in obtaining permission to remove an organ for transplantation or conduct an autopsy to determine the precise cause of death. A funeral director may have already made preliminary arrangements to see that the wishes of the family are respected” (Kastenbaum Ch. 12 pg. 386). This shows that funerals are not just about laying a person who passed on to rest, but there are many things that go hand in hand in preparation for the funeral service such as the autopsy, death certificate, and many more typical funeral needs.
Dying is a scary connotation of when someone loses their life. There are many ways a person can die, which can either be through sickness or through unlawful acts done by cruel people. Death is something we all go through as a way to make room for the next generation. Grief, Mourning, and the funeral process as a whole are three similar terms to deal with the death of a person that is close to us. Throughout my paper, I analyzed and spoke about a term in connection with Oprah Winfrey’s eulogy of Rosa Parks where she gave thanks to a wonderful human being who made a difference in not Oprah’s life but to others. There are so many things to consider when dealing with the death of someone close, we grieve, we mourn and we go through the funeral process. However, we always show a remembrance of that specific person through the eulogy and the speeches we deliver to showcase the life of our loved ones. Oprah Winfrey stated as a goodbye to her eulogy, “I celebrate your strength to this day. And I am forever grateful, Sister Rosa, for your courage, your conviction. I owe you — to succeed. I will not be moved” (Oprah 2005). These last lines showcase how it’s not a goodbye but thank you and see you soon. I believe that we always have our loved ones close to us even though they are not physically here with us.
The article “Oprah Winfrey” is from the Academy of Achievement Magazine. It talks about the life of Oprah Winfrey from her childhood to a successful woman in the American context. Born to an unwed mother, Oprah lived with her grandmother at a tender age while her mother was looking for work. At the age of six, she went to live with her mother at Milwaukee where she was molested for four years. She would later go to live with the father who helped her to achieve her higher education status. After winning the Miss Black Tennessee at the age of 17, Winfrey won a scholarship to learn Speech Communication and Performance Arts at the Tennessee State University. She worked at WVOL and WJZ-TV before moving to WLS-TV where she established the famous Oprah Winfrey Show in 1985 (“Oprah Winfrey” par. 4). The show became popular both nationally and internationally. Apart from her love for the show, Winfrey also loved acting and supporting children from poor families. She became a successful and renowned figure throughout the world.
Reflection of Dominant Values and their Reinforcement in the Article
The life history and success of Winfrey depends on some of the core values of America. For instance, individualism is firmly reinforced in the article. Because of her belief in a unique personality, Winfrey made individual efforts to study and become successful. With the concept of equality in America, Winfrey got a scholarship for education based on merits and not gender. After establishing the Oprah Winfrey Show, she used the equality as a value to relate with the society directly (Doran and Littrell 262). About materialism, the article describes the 42-acre home of Winfrey. All these personal attributes show her aggressiveness, strong work ethics, determination, and willingness to compete (Kohls par. 4).
How the Article Shapes and Diffuses Social Norms
The article depicts the life of the celebrity from a humble background to a successful woman. Its publication in the mainstream media will help to encourage the young generation who are hopeless to embrace hard work and determination. The article also shows the aspect of gender as an insignificant obstacle to a person’s success in American society (Doran and Littrell 267). In a capitalistic society like America, people should embrace competition to earn the opportunities available.
On the other hand, the article diffuses social norms such as parenting. It depicts women as people who are unable to take care of their children without male counterparts. Winfrey only becomes successful under the care and support of her father. It also makes the society believe that success is a product of hard work even if one does not have resources (Kohls par. 12).
How the Article Maintains Hegemonic Discourse
American society follows capitalistic ideologies. In this context, the ruling class owns the resources of production and controls both the working-class and the low-class societies (“Oprah Winfrey” par. 8). To maintain their status quo, the ruling class has set up values and norms for the ruled classes to believe in them. Through the article, the Americans are made to believe that anybody can be successful irrespective of their economic and social background (Doran and Littrell 268). They only need to be hardworking and determined people even if they do not have access to resources that the ruling class owns.
Other aspects to Consider from the Article
Oprah Winfrey is successful because of her hard work, education, and determination to follow her dreams and become successful (“Oprah Winfrey” par. 13). Through hard work, she held the Oprah Winfrey Show daily for many years to maintain and expand its publicity. Through the celebrity, we learn that living a good life depends on one’s resilience and hard work, which is based on skills and talents (Doran and Littrell 274). Even though everyone has a unique life, it is admirable to be famous like Oprah Winfrey.
Works Cited
Doran, Caroline Josephine, and Romie Littrell. “Measuring Mainstream US Cultural Values.” Journal of Business Ethics 117.2 (2012): 261-280. Print.
Kohls, Robert L. The Values Americans Live by. n.d. Web.
One of the world’s most iconic TV shows, with a 25-year history, is The Oprah Winfrey Show. The show aired on U.S. TV stations and quickly earned viewers’ trust and gave Winfrey the status of a media icon. How did she earn this title, and what contribution did she make to developing the global media sphere?
Winfrey’s Short Biography
Oprah’s early life was not happy: unhappy family, drugs, rape, miscarriage, and suicide attempts. Winfrey did not give up and got on CBS at 19, and by the age of 22, she was hosting a morning show.
Eventually, she got her famous TV show.
Help of Chance
While she was working for a local TV station, her colleague showed one of the tapes of the show to the director of WLS-TV. It was an epiphany. The director immediately hired a dark-skinned woman as the host. Within six months, WLS- TV got record ratings!
Road to Success
Feeling success and fame, Oprah founds the Harpo Inc. agency and rapidly increases the show’s audience through advertising. Her straightforward on-screen demeanor and the episodes’ themes give the Oprah Winfrey Show ratings and public acclaim.
The Show’s Awards
PCA for Favorite Talk Show — 1988
DCA Emmy for Outstanding Makeup — 1995
DCA Emmy for Outstanding Lighting Direction — 2006-2008
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding News —1992-1994
DCA Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host — 1994, 1995, 1998 PCA for Favorite Female TV Performer — 1997
DCA Emmy for Outstanding Art Direction — 2005, 2010 BAT Award for Best Foreign Television Programme — 1994, etc.
Contribution to TV
Raising the ratings of WLS-TV
Reaching the scale of national significance
The highest-rated show in the world
Narrating socially relevant topics inspires millions of viewers
Oprah has Moved On
Oprah starred in several cult films and won three Oscars.
Oprah became a media mogul, launching her production of radio, magazines, and books.
The show’s audience before it closed was 1/8th of the U.S. population.
For many decades over the past period, mass media have played a vital role in disseminating significant information to the audience. Consequently, audiences have reciprocated these efforts by expressing loyalty to various television shows and radio shows. As a result, a large audience base is likely to be constituted depending on the host’s ability to draw as many audiences as possible.
This has a mutual benefit between the host and the audience following them. The host is likely to benefit more than the audience in various instances as revealed in studies on the Oprah Winfrey’s shows. Television shows have hit the market more than the radio shows given the improved technological changes that allow television broadcasting share various shows on certain terms and conditions.
The major expectations of audiences are learning, entertainment, advices, and more important, getting inspiration from the television shows. Since the introduction of The Oprah Winfrey Show, approximately 26 years ago, the show managed to draw many audiences across the world. Each episode could attract different audience, depending on the message and the hosted character.
However, the show, just like many other business ventures had its odds and hardships leading to its last days in mid-2011. This came up after the host; Oprah Winfrey decided to concentrate on her OWN cable network that she had established January 2011. Love her or hate her, this lady with a very poor life background managed to conquer odds in life to an extent of becoming a superstar.
From lags to riches, from Mississippi, Oprah improved on her weight, (although still struggling), created world recognition, inspired people undergoing hard times, and marketed herself among others. With her termination of the show, many audiences could not afford to watch her based on the expense in securing a Nielsen box to transmit the OWN programs, such as Oprah’s Next Chapter.
The Television show triggered both motivational and inspirational powers to audience with assistance of books published by this host. The big question derived from the show could be; why did The Oprah Winfrey Show has to end despite rising into high popularity standards? (Goodale 1). Therefore, this study cultivated on various important issues contributed by the show, reasons attributing to termination of this television show and why self promotion is complicated.
Research Questions
Based on the study thesis, various questions will be formulated to ensure the study come up with a conclusive explanation of various weighty matters learned from The Oprah Winfrey Show. Therefore, the following research questions will guide the study;
What were the audiences’ expectations, lessons, and source of quest to continue watching the show both locally and globally?
Was it necessary for Oprah Winfrey to terminate her role in hoisting the show?
What are the highs and lows encountered in the journey to gain success as a public figure through self promotion?
Why did this show had to be terminated despite its source of inspiration to many people and what are possible measures that can be taken to prevent losing audience?
Is it possible to maintain the public attention among the audiences through self promotion?
Research hypothesis
Various research hypotheses will be necessary at this stage of research proposal to link the researchers’ thoughts to the information gathered from other sources. As a result, the following hypotheses are likely to be rejected or accepted, depending on the information gathered from both secondary and primary sources. The results derived from sources related to The Oprah Winfrey Show will help in creating a conclusion of the study. The hypothesis formulated in this study include,
Most of the audiences are likely to listen and watch television shows at any expense as long as there is a message derived at the end of the show.
It is impossible to maintain the audience loyalty forever in public spaces, such as televisions.
Self promotion is a tough task and the cost to maintain an identity is even tougher.
Study Justification
This study is geared towards spotting various problems that war the success of media and communication fraternity. Rising superstars or celebrities as well as televisions and radio programs have been rampant in most parts of the world.
However, these programs or shows have been terminated in a very crude ways in which the audiences are left nostalgic. In most cases, the shows have been terminated even when the audience loyalty increases. This behavior of “popular hosts” jumping from one position to another may result to trouble among the media owners and their audience.
Most of the hosts have been accused of serving these positions for their own good and popularity. Therefore, the common interest keeps lowering toward the audience, whereas the personal interest keeps on rising. At the end of the day, the host think they are superior hence they can make any move, make unlawful decisions, and even think they can domineer among others.
Therefore, this study will offer a solution to ensure measures are taken in appropriate time to ensure the audience remains the first priority and enjoy their shows comfortably without incurring high expense. Most important, discussion on issues of self promotion could be a shaping tool for the upcoming hosts.
Literature Review
The struggle to create or promote personal identity in public can be a very hectic task. More so, audience can be source of the celebrity that most people require to climb the ladder of popularity. However, the television host have a hard task behind them in the battle to identify the potential in them, working on the identity, marketing themselves, and more precisely, to maintain the audience’s loyalty.
Many scholars and researchers have been studying various factors that might be contributing to the rise and fall of various superstar and this have highly contribute to the knowledge base on personal promotion and marketing an identity.
The Rise and Influence of Oprah Winfrey
The popularity of The Oprah Winfrey Show was a major boost to the television broadcaster owners, Oprah Winfrey, and the audience. The cooperation between the three stakeholders was a huge achievement that propelled the coexistence of the show. However, it got motivational and inspirational to watch a once impoverished young girl from Mississippi transform and gain popularity to be among the highly ranked women in the world and an American icon.
Besides her race background (Black American), she conquered in a field that many people would not have thought of succeeding (Info please 1). Fortunately, the jovial, and firing shows hosted by Oprah Winfrey kept even the Whites asking for more. Canton David described her as “An African-American woman captured the hearts and minds of middle- and upper-middle-class whites” (Goudreau 1).
The Oprah Winfrey Show transformed the American and the rest of the world’s people’s lives. The quest for Americans for emotional and bodily craving for self-redefinition was of great boost to Oprah’s self promotion. She used her position as a host to deliver the most important messages through hosting various people.
People hosted ranged from the popular to peasant, depending on the message she wanted to deliver in each episode. The guests invited were drawn from music industries, political arena, games and sports, films, and simple people with inspirational testimonies (Goudreau 1).
The great influence of the show has a massive support in America compared to other areas in the world. This emanates from the fact that most of the guest hosted in the show has the American ground and their inspirational stories have direct linkage to other residents in the region. It is easier to hear a testimony or revelation from people you know as compared to strangers.
As a result, American shows have more audiences as compared to Chinese shows, who may have less interest on what the program is all about. In addition, this low audience in China may be as a result of inability to own commodities such as Nielson box. Airing some controversial or biased issues may as well reduce the audience in a show. For instance, hosting a show on violence, legalization of homosexuality and commercial sex may discourage number of audience.
The presence of Oprah Winfrey Show can be used to show how a humble beginning can end up creating an indelible mark among the audience. Even with departure of Oprah Winfred in her show, the audience has followed her to the new cable network (OWN).
There is no doubt that this host must have won hearts of many audiences. This might be associated with how the program was beneficial to the society. For instance, Oprah was in the frontline in donating goods worth millions to charity organizations. In addition, she managed to recruit and employ a certain number of people.
Therefore, apart from her airing inspirational messages in the show, she related closely with the people. This could have cemented the relationship with her audience. This was great achievement as Oprah managed to demonstrate a true media power in the 21st century. Her determination to her own freedom granted her the wealth she enjoys today after declining offers to sell her show (Goodale 1).
Downfall of the Oprah Winfrey Show
The departure of this queen in television show was not a very voluntarily decision as indicated by various scholars. Notably, by the end of the last episode of The Oprah Winfred Show, the ratings had dropped significantly (Goudreau 1). Some argue that Oprah had developed an ego that she never had when starting the show. The quest to have freedom was another reason that she had to work on her own network (OWN). The popularity of Oprah had exceeded the one of her guest and it seemed that they were “cheap” to her (Goudreau 1).
The quest for freedom and dominance in her work can be drawn after she started the new cable network, OWN. She held three string position that included Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer. At the same time, she was a major host in the show Oprah’s Next Chapter.
In another move that attracted mixed reaction she posted on tweeter for people to tune into her latest series on OWN via Nielsen box. This was a violation of the policies laid by Nielson and she had to delete the post soon. However, after apologizing, she went further to post abusive posts in response to people reactions on her arrogance. According to Goudreau,
Oprah responded with this post “’desperate’ not ever a part of my vocab… Unethical a little harsh don’t u think? Seemed like it made sense to me. Sorry if u’re offended….Just making a request, since I can’t watch myself. Choice is yours. (1)
This might question her moral standard and tarnish her name. However, there are possibilities to redeem her image as lately revealed with hosting of Lady Gaga, Stephen Tyler, and Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina and her family.
Methodology
This study will use both the qualitative and quantitative research approach given the thin line between the two methods (Saunders 23). These two will be used complementarily in one instance or the other because this study will require both measurable and immeasurable information likely to assist in answering the research questions and proving the hypothesis.
Therefore, the research will use both the secondary and the primary data. The secondary data will be derived from other sources on media and communication, such as journals, media clips, published books, newspaper, web pages among others. On the other hand, the primary data will include primary sources such as interview, surveys, and questionnaires.
In case of primary data collection, a considerable sample size will consider the gender, age, and social class. Formation of the right sample size is a crucial issue to ensure that the sample is not too big or too small (Kumar 78).
The implications led by too big or too small sample size is the reliability and validity of the information derived from the sample. For instance, a small sample size with very few variables may not be useful in generalization of the results achieved. On the other hand, a large sample size may lead to erroneous results especially when there is time and money constraint.
Reliability of the data collected in the study will depend on free sampling without any biasing. In addition, there will be probability sampling to ensure the reliability and the validity of the data (Neuman 154). Various indicators in the sample will be used to ensure data collected does not focus on one major group of the respondents.
My experience with television programming has changed over time. Since I was of age, television programs have come and gone. However, while some television programs have had short-lived impacts, others have remained influential for a number of decades. An example of a television program that has had a major impact on my life is the “Oprah Winfrey Show.” Oprah Winfrey is the personality behind the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” and I have been observing her since I was very young. Consequently, I consider Oprah to be one of the most intriguing people in my past and current communities. Oprah Winfrey has run a talk show for over three decades, and she has been a television personality for a longer duration.
Since I first became familiar with Oprah Winfrey, I have witnessed her undergo and engineer incredible transformations. Oprah is also considered as one of the most influential women in the world. Her position as an African American of great influence is not in doubt. Personally, I have known and have been observing Oprah Winfrey for the last fifteen years. Over the course of that period, Oprah has done things that have prompted me to rethink my earlier understanding of the human race. This paper is about Oprah Winfrey, the outstanding talk show host, philanthropist, and businesswoman.
One of the most intriguing factors about Oprah is her humble background. Unlike most of the people in her position of influence, Oprah shares a remarkably poor background. Oprah was born in 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Oprah’s mother was a single teenager at the time of her birth. As a child, Oprah changed residences a number of times when she was living with her mother, grandmother, and father. Oprah also confesses to having been abused when she was a teenager. Another remarkable fact about Oprah is that of all her guardians, only her grandmother encouraged her to develop her natural abilities as an orator. However, her natural gifts still flourished even under unfavorable environments. After digging through her past, I found that Oprah’s breakthrough came when she revived a morning talk show in Chicago’s “WLS-TV.” After her stint as a morning show host, Oprah gained momentum to achieve the influence she had by the time I became acquainted with her in the late 1990s.
When I first started watching the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” I was only a teenager, and I found the show to be quite irritating. During that time, my mother would religiously watch the show, and I had no option but to do the same. At first, I could not understand how, as a respectable talk show host Oprah would be more emotional than her guests or her audience. During the show, Oprah would often breakdown in tears or break into emotional chants of condemnation. My mother often told me that I would one day understand the concept of the show. However, I have spent fifteen years observing Oprah, and I am yet to become one of her ‘diehard’ fans. From the onset, I was skeptical about Oprah’s show because I found the host’s display of emotions pretentious and coerced. Nonetheless, over the last decade and a half, I have realized that my initial assessment of Oprah might have been wrong. There are several aspects of Oprah’s life and actions that go beyond the norm and redefine personalities.
Oprah Winfrey is an ordinary African American who has captured the attention of more than one generation. When I was growing up, my mother considered what Oprah said to be the final word on any matter. Oprah’s talk show has captured the attention of women viewers across the world. Consequently, Oprah’s voice has prevailed upon women in both the United States and the rest of the world. The most intriguing aspect of Oprah as a talk show host is that unlike other female television personalities, she did not capture the attention of women or men using her refined looks and fashion choices. Oprah was able to draw audiences even though she had the looks of an average African American woman.
Today and in the past, the television platform has favored women with above-average looks. Furthermore, most female television personalities embrace trends that are beyond the reach of ordinary American women. My mother often reminded me that Oprah first inspired her when she (Oprah) lost an incredible amount of weight and managed to maintain her new form. According to Oprah, her weight loss was motivated by her personal choices as a woman as opposed to conforming to a particular body image. In the course of her work, Oprah has focused on inspiring individuals to overcome their life-hurdles. In addition, Oprah has often championed the rights of minorities through her various media platforms. Oprah’s influence started on television, but it has since spread to books, radio, magazines, charity programs, and websites (Miller 1).
It is important to note that even though Oprah has amassed a lot of personal wealth in the course of her activities, she has done it quietly and with grace. In her biography, Oprah says that the decision to syndicate her show nationally opened her to several freedoms, financially. Unlike most other televisions personalities, Oprah’s salesmanship is almost undetectable. Oprah advocates for products that she believes in and those that have a direct impact on her personal life (Winfrey 84). However, Oprah’s sales influence in America and around the world is unrivaled. In addition, Oprah has not been involved in any financial scandal in the course of her career, as is common with other billionaires. The number of lawsuits that Oprah has handled is quite low, considering her stature.
Oprah has broken several records in the course of her existence. Oprah’s record-breaking tendencies started back in 1986 when her talk show became the most popular one in America at the time. The show remained popular until the time of Oprah’s retirement in 2009. The ability to maintain a prime position in television rankings is a testament to Oprah’s superior personality, given that almost all the shows that were popular in the 1980s have since become obscure. Oprah has also made several record-breaking financial milestones. For instance, Oprah was the first African American billionaire in history. In addition, her savvy business attitude prompted a university to formulate a business course that was aptly named “Oprah Winfrey, the Tycoon.”
Oprah is also said to have brought in more than one million votes for Barrack Obama when she supported him during the 2008 presidential elections. There are few other media personalities who have a charity outreach that can surpass that of Oprah Winfrey. Among Oprah’s extraordinary actions is establishing a luxurious girls’ school in South Africa. In an epic television moment, Oprah once presented her entire audience with brand new cars (Nagle 85).
Oprah is an outstanding personality because her career has been original throughout. In addition, several other people have modeled their actions in accordance with her life and teachings. Although human beings are susceptible to errors, I have not witnessed Oprah making any mistakes that are worth mentioning. Therefore, I believe that Oprah is the most outstanding and intriguing personality that I have ever come across in my community.
Works Cited
Miller, Matthew. The Wealthiest Black Americans. 2009. Web.
Nagle, Jeanne. Oprah Winfrey: Profile of a Media Mogul, Chicago, IL: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Winfrey, Oprah. What I know for sure, New York, NY: Macmillan, 2014. Print.
Evaluate the sources of power of Oprah in Harpo Production. Analyse the sources of power have Oprah in the entertainment industry.
In Harpo, the sources of power of Oprah Winfrey are fame, ethical leadership, and philanthropist. Fame is the power that Oprah portrays in her talent as a talk show host, radio presenter, and writer. However, with her talent, Oprah has attracted billions of people to her company since the production facilities, products, and the content contains her name. Oprah is famous in television talk show because billions of television viewers across the world watch her shows. She is also an established entrepreneur because she started Harpo, a production company that deals with media and entertainment in the United States.
Currently, Harpo is a huge company because it makes about $400 million in sales per year and employs about 410 employees. Oprah’s fame has earned her honour from individuals, who listen to her radio channel, watch her shows, read her magazines, and purchase her products. Moreover, ethical leadership is another source of power, which Oprah shows. By respecting and treating all employees equally, Oprah demonstrates ethical leadership for she acts as a role model and urges her employees to relate well among each other in the company. Oprah is also a philanthropist in that she contributes million dollars for the construction and development of schools in South Africa and other projects across the world.
Organisational culture is transmitted to employees through several communication channels. Critically analyse what the factors that create and sustain an organisation’s culture are Harpo is?
Factors that create and sustain an organisational culture in Harpo are attractive remuneration package, signing of privacy and confidentiality agreement, and professionalism. The attractive remuneration package is a culture in Harpo, which motivates, rewards, and creates a favourable working environment. Essentially, Harpo has the capacity to employ and retain employees because it considers exploitation as an unethical practice.
Additionally, the signing of privacy and confidentiality agreement is a culture that enables Harpo to maintain to conceal its secrecies from the competitors, who steal ideas and utilise them in gaining competitive advantages in the production industry. The privacy and confidentiality culture has made Harpo rank among the best companies in the world. Consequently, privacy and confidentiality have enabled Harpo to remain relevant in the production industry for decades.
Professionalism as a factor that creates and sustains organisational culture is demonstrated when the company employs qualified managers, who are able to come up with long-term goals. The managers promote professionalism in the values and principles that they apply in the management of Harpo. Being one of the leaders, Oprah has demonstrated ethical leadership by focusing on values and principles as primary elements of Harpo, rather than concentrating on gaining huge profits. Fundamentally, Harpo does not compromise ethics in the business world for the sake of money.
Compare and contrast leadership and power from this case. Use Oprah as a tool for the grounded theory that we previously discussed.
Using Oprah as a tool for the grounded theory, leadership and power have some relationships. From the case study, it is evident that power and leadership are inseparable elements in an organisation. Comparatively, the power that Oprah Winfrey employs in the leadership of Harpo emanates from her fame, talents, resources, and ethical leadership. Harpo is a unique company because of the power that Oprah wields in the management of Harpo. She also portrays her power when she names the company, products, facilities, and content using her name. The naming creates a brand, which attracts a billion people, who follow her product due to her fame. In contrast, leadership and power have some differences in the case study. Despite having no power, Oprah started Harpo and successfully managed it to an excellent company.
The successful management of Harpo implies that power is not essential in the management of companies and enabling them to achieve set goals. On the other hand, the leadership of Harpo is dependent on the power of Oprah for it to sustain the achieved developments. In case her power fades, it implies that the company would collapse. Therefore, comparisons and contrasts of the leadership and power reveal that they are inseparable elements in an organisation, which are essential for successful management Harpo.
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most famous celebrities in the USA and in the world, and one of the richest people on our planet (Geoghegan par. 4). Having become a host of a talk show many years ago, she captured the hearts of millions in America and worldwide; her followers seem to have deep personal feelings towards their charismatic leader. In our paper, we will consider the situation of her becoming this famous after she started hosting the show, try to find out the reasons for this, and look into Winfrey’s characteristics as a leader in more detail.
Introduction of Related Literature on Leadership and Motivation
There exists quite much literature connected to the topic of leadership and motivation. In our study of Oprah Winfrey’s case, we will use three books directly concerning the theme, as well as numerous articles and other materials related to the subject of leadership, motivation, and types of power, as well as texts and videos about Winfrey’s life and activities.
The first book we are going to use, labeled Contemporary Leadership Theories: Enhancing the Understanding of the Complexity, Subjectivity and Dynamic of Leadership and written by Ingo Winkler, includes materials aimed at supplying the reader with foundations of theory of leadership. The book also has a goal of drawing its reader’s attention to the challenges faced by this theory today, such as the existence of a wide range of theoretical approaches related to studying and implementing the theory in question.
The author makes an attempt to turn over the popular approach according to which many contemporary works on leadership are based; this common approach looks for an answer to the question “What makes an effective leader?” and tries to implement the findings as norms. Winkler, on the other hand, makes an emphasis on description, though does not make objections against these norms (Winkler 1). The book contains detailed descriptions of nine popular theories and approaches to leadership, or types of this phenomenon.
The Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice: An HBS Centennial Colloquium on Advancing Leadership, edited by Harvard Business School professors Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana, comprises articles related to the topic of leadership. The articles provide a detailed consideration of what leadership is and why this notion is so important in the contemporary world; discussions of how the topic is related to many other areas of study; a careful look into how to implement various leadership strategies in various situations connected to the world of business and the life of society.
This collection of articles includes works related to history, economics, psychology and sociology, providing a broad interdisciplinary view of the leadership, effectively allowing these disciplines to make their donation into the exploration of this important phenomenon. The book also scrutinizes some challenges encountered by today’s leaders, such as the ones created by globalization, the need for rapid innovation, etc.
In his book Leadership: Theory and Practice, Peter G. Northouse gives account of the contemporary studies of leadership. He treats leadership as a multi-sided phenomenon, and attempts to consider each side. The author then analyzes various kinds of leadership. The analysis is carried out by using a clear, defined pattern: description – strengths – criticism – application – case studies – leadership instrument – summary. Therefore, the book not only focuses on the theory of multiple approaches to interpreting leadership but also provides its readers with the opportunity of facilitated understanding of the phenomenon and the chance to immediately model situations to which this leadership style would or would not apply.
It is important to point out that the book does not only consider the classical approaches to leadership, it also comprises chapters looking into some issues which are timely today, and relates them to the topic of leadership. For instance, the book includes such themes as gender and leadership, culture and leadership, ethical aspects of leadership. Northouse’s book can be useful to anyone who wishes to get a quick and clear basic understanding of the contemporary theory of leadership, as well as for those needing to fill in the gaps in their knowledge of this theory.
The Inspirational Leader, a book by John Eric Adair, a famous authority on leadership, is written in an unusual manner: it takes the form of a dialogue between the author and a young chief executive. The CO attended some courses on leadership and motivation in the past, but, after getting the post recently, understood the need to learn more to be able to face the real challenges of the job, and asked the author for help, which the author provides in the book (Adair 1). It should be noted that Adair believes that leaders are made, not born (Adair 158); so, throughout his book, he gives his vision of various aspects of leadership and teaches the reader what traits they should develop and what kind of things they should do in order to successfully lead, motivate, and inspire.
Ignite the Passion – A Guide to Motivational Leadership is written by Peter A. LaPorta, a man who successfully led a large number of people in various organizations for more than 20 years (LaPorta vii). His book introduces some basic principles that each leader should possess in order for them and their subordinates to succeed in their tasks. It is also filled with practical advice about motivation and inspiration; the author tells stories in order to illustrate this advice and provide an example of how to use it. The book can become a practical guide for anyone who wishes to be an effective leader, as well as be helpful for analyzing and assessing the job done by other leaders.
Now, after we have described some literature we have used in our study, it is possible to proceed to the study itself.
External Environment & Strategic Challenge
Oprah Winfrey started working in the media at the age of 16, and her television career began when she was 19 (Petersen par. 5, 3:15, 5:15). Her initial work as a news anchor was not very successful, though; it is stated that Winfrey unduly sympathized with people she reported about, which eventually led to her demotion (Johnson-Sterrett 30). She continued working on TV, but in a new role, as a co-host for a talk show “People Are Talking”. This time, her endeavors were much more successful, because the format of the show allowed for deep personal communication and relating to people; it is emphasized that she was able to ask the guests of the program the questions that the viewers wished to ask (Johnson-Sterrett 30-31). The show quickly became popular, and Oprah, having been invited to Chicago to host a different show, decided to accept the offer (Johnson-Sterrett 31).
This is how Winfrey began hosting a morning TV talk show “AM Chicago” in 1984. It rose to the most watched show in Chicago in a month, was renamed to “Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1986, and became the “top syndicated talk show” in the US in 1987 (“Harpo Inc. History” par. 6-7). It eventually led Oprah to becoming one of the most famous people in the US and one of the richest people on the planet (Geoghegan par. 4).
Therefore, it appears that the main external challenge that Winfrey initially encountered was the fact that she was too sympathetic towards people and could not hide her emotions, while the environment (news programs on television) required her to be much more reserved. Oprah wasn’t able to change her attitude and was demoted; but this demotion permitted her to find her niche. Talk shows were the place where Winfrey could realize herself, because they enabled her to talk frankly and openly, in accordance with her character. Her followers (the audience) appreciated it, for the issues she talked about were very timely for most of the audience of such programs.
For instance, a large part of them were familiar with the problems of sexual abuse (or at least highly sympathetic with its victims), obsession with being overweight, etc., and wanted to believe that honesty and goodness were to be rewarded in this world, which was exactly what Winfrey would speak about (Geoghegan par. 8-17). Things that were discussed in the show, or, particularly, things that Winfrey had to say, were generalizeable in some respect, and could be applied to a large part of the public (Lagace par. 8). Oprah was able to relieve “the weight of the defeat” for many, motivating them to move forward, which is a very important skill for a leader (LaPorta 165-166). Thus, it is no wonder that Winfrey, having experienced serious trouble (similar to what many people also had) and overcome them, became the leader for so many, inspiring them and giving them hope.
Strategic Vision
According to Oprah Winfrey, during her career, she always relied on her instincts to choose the future course of actions. In her interview at Stanford University, Oprah constantly stresses that, on every point of her path, she “listened” to “what felt like truth” for her, to what seemed right (Petersen par. 5, 06:55, 09:35). While still working as a news anchor , she felt that reporting the news “wasn’t for her”, and even now she is convinced that “knowing what you don’t want to do is the best possible place to be if you don’t know what to do” (Petersen par. 5, 07:30, 08:10). She had “vision for what the future was, even though couldn’t place exactly where the future would be” (Petersen par. 5, 16:45). And Winfrey accepted a new invitation and came to Chicago, because she felt that it was her place to be.
As for Winfrey’s perception of her mission, she states that “my real contribution… is to help connect people to themselves and the higher ideas of their consciousness. I’m here to help embrace consciousness” (Petersen par. 5, 21:15).
Therefore, it seems that Oprah’s has never had any scrupulously calculated long-term strategy that she held to; she has relied on her “gut” to determine her “vision”. She was very successful in her course of actions, though; Winfrey has been called one of the most influential people in the USA and worldwide more than once (Pomerantz par. 1-2).
On the other hand, it is noted that Oprah, despite being a public person, at the same time manages to remain secretive, and not many is known about her inner life, as well as about her business (Geoghegan par. 29). Still, it might be claimed that, despite making stress on “consciousness”, Winfrey appears to be an intelligent, but rather an anti-intellectual leader (meaning that she only appeals to “inner feeling”, not to rationality, to lead a person in their life).
The Leader
We have seen that Winfrey seems to be quite an open-minded person who tries to change the world for the better. Despite difficulties in her life, she always remains optimistic and confident that what she does is right, and that, sooner or later, it will pay off. When she only began co-hosting her first talk show, she already possessed some skills and experience from working as a news anchor, but, according to Oprah, she was mainly driven by her instincts and inner feelings, and she simply knew what to say and what to do. She always behaves confidently and openly (still managing not to reveal some specific things about her life or business, though (Lagace par. 10-15)), and says what she thinks in quite a straightforward way.
She seems to keep to ethics and integrity (for instance, after an incident during her show, when her show guest had been publicly humiliated by another guest of hers, Winfrey decided that she would never let it happen again, and that she is “not gonna be used by television, I’m gonna use television as a force… we’re gonna use it as a platform to speak to the world” (Petersen par. 5, 24:40)). Oprah doesn’t seem to have particular influence tactics, again, being driven by her intuition. She is friendly towards her followers and tries to help them, in particular, by the mentioned “connecting” them to their “consciousness” (Petersen par. 5, 21:15); she is also widely known as a philanthropist.
The leadership style of Oprah Winfrey is definitely charismatic; her fans follow her because she “embodies… exceptional magnetism” (Nohria and Khurana 314). It can be described by applying House’s theory of charismatic leadership (qtd. in Winkler 32-33): she has a vision of what is right and how to behave; she is willing to take personal risks to achieve it (for instance, she moved to Chicago in spite of the fact that virtually everyone told her that she would fail (Petersen par. 5, 10:35)); she is sensitive to her follower needs, being a philanthropist and helping people to “connect” to their “consciousness”; she always relates to people while communicating with them; and she exhibits behaviors that are out of ordinary, for instance, speaking absolutely frankly about her being sexually abused, or overweight, etc.
It is also possible to apply path-goal theory to describe Oprah’s leadership style. She clarifies the path for her followers, reduces obstacles by providing examples of how to act. She also always tries to understand the perceptions of those who she is talking to and to be sympathetic towards them.
Winfrey has been described not only as a charismatic leader but also as a transformational one, for, as was mentioned above, what she tries to do is change people, supply them with a “sense of vision and mission”, inspire “millions worldwide to dream big”, and show the way to deal with problems (“Oprah Winfrey, a Transformational and Charismatic Leader” par. 1-3; Northouse “8. Transformational Leadership”).
On the other hand, it is asserted that charismatic and transformational leadership are often defined in the ways which make them almost equal (Northouse “8. Transformational Leadership”); therefore, it is sound to apply both categories to Winfrey.
Charismatic leadership has its strengths and weaknesses. Some of the strengths of charismatic leaders that apply to Oprah Winfrey are: the ability to motivate people, encourage them to take action, inspiring them with her own example; being perceived as friendly and benevolent; and being loved by her public. In Adair’s terms, she might be called a wise leader, for she possesses experience and intelligence, and goodness as well (53). On the other hand, some of the important weaknesses of Oprah as a leader are the inability to produce or clearly communicate exact ways of dealing with problems, mainly simply advising them to follow their instincts; and the over-reliance of her followers on her, which, combined with Oprah’s possible inability to clearly put her ideas across, can amplify the negative results for her followers.
Leading Others
Let us consider what type of influence and authority Winfrey has. According to a classical power taxonomy, there exist five main types of power: reward, coercive, legitimate, expert, and referent powers (French and Raven). Information power was added to this taxonomy later (Raven). From the facts stated above it is clear that the type of power that should be attributed to Oprah Winfrey is the referent power, for most of her audience follow her because they respect her, admire her success, at the same time possibly perceiving her as a friend.
When Oprah first started her chat shows, her being sympathetic towards her guests, her frankness and openness quickly captured her audience’s hearts (Geoghegan par. 8-17). At the same time, there was something in her shows that one could generalize and apply to their own situation (Lagace par. 8). This is why Winfrey was able to gather such a large audience so quickly. As people admire Oprah and believe that she is a wise person whose advice and example will help them with their problems, it should be added that the celebrity possesses a certain extent of expert and information powers, as well.
The referent power that Winfrey achieved during her broadcasts has proven extremely effective, for it allowed Oprah’s show to become one of the most popular TV programs in the US. This type of power was also appropriate for this situation; it might be argued that reward, coercive, and legitimate types of power either would not be able to draw so much attention to the screens, or would be impossible to realize via this type of communication.
Organizational Culture
Soon after her rise in 1984-1986, Oprah founded her own production company, Harpo Inc, in 1986 (Garson xii-xiii). This company gained the right to broadcast “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1988 (“Harpo Inc. History” par. 9). Because this show is what made the celebrity one of the richest and most famous people of the world, we believe it would be reasonable to analyze the organizational culture of “Harpo Inc.”
On the other hand, it is quite a difficult task, for the information about Winfrey’s company that is publicly available is scarce (Lagace par. 12-13). Furthermore, the company has also been called “highly secretive”; Smith highlights that its employees are required to “sign extensive privacy and confidentiality agreements” (par. 3). It has been reported that the company is hard to work for, which is compensated by high salaries (Smith par. 4). Smith also assumes that the company’s management is probable to aim at motivation and retention (par. 2).
We will use Rao’s model for evaluating the company’s culture (292-293). It appears likely that Oprah’s company is aimed at innovation and is outcome- and customer-oriented. Judging from Winfrey’s general attitude, her firm is probably not very attentive to details of work. It is hard to say whether or not Harpo Studios is people-oriented (although it is known that the work is hard, but salaries are high), whether or not it is team-oriented, aggressive and encourages rivalry (though probably not), and if it is aimed at “stability”, i.e. “preservation of traditional moral values” (Oprah is rather a controversial person in this aspect: religious, but e.g. is known to support gay marriage). It also seems likely that the company has a strong organizational culture.
As we can only make guesses about Harpo’s organizational culture, and some of these guesses are based on Winfrey’s personality, it is impossible to determine the actual relationship between the culture and the celebrity’s style. It is also hard to point out strengths and weaknesses of organizational culture we don’t have the data about.
Conclusion
An important insight we have gained while studying Oprah Winfrey’s case is related to charismatic leadership and based on the fact that she can only work effectively where she feels that she belongs, and that in other cases she is unable to become a strong leader. It appears to us, therefore, that a charismatic leader such as Winfrey has to find their specific niche to lead people; otherwise, the leadership situation will not emerge.
Summing up, we can say that, as we have argued, Oprah Winfrey is a charismatic leader who relies on her “inner feelings” to decide what is right, and who leads her fans mainly through referent power. Her followers follow her because they develop a strong emotional correlation between themselves and their leader.
Works Cited
Adair, John Eric. The Inspirational Leader: How to Motivate, Encourage & Achieve Success. London, UK: Kogan Page Publishers, 2005. Print.
French, John R. P., Jr. and Bertram H. Raven. “The bases of social power.” Group dynamics. Ed. D. Cartwright and A. Zander. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1960. 608-623. Print.
Garson, Helen S. Oprah Winfrey: A Biography. 2nd ed. 2011. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Google Books. Web.
Johnson-Sterrett, Julia Deborah. The Rise of Oprah Winfrey as a Cultural Icon: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis. Diss. Fielding Graduate University, 2007. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI, 2004. ProQuest. Web.
LaPorta, Peter A. Ignite the Passion – A Guide to Motivational Leadership. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2003. Print.
Nohria, Nitin, and Rakesh Khurana. Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice: An HBS Centennial Colloquium on Advancing Leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2013. Print.
Raven, Bertram H. “Social influence and power.” Current Studies in Social Psychology. Ed. I.D. Steiner and M. Fishbein. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1965. 371-382. Print.
Smith, Nicole. Business Case Study of Harpo Productions: Management, Incentive and Oprah. 2012. Web.
Winkler, Ingo. Contemporary Leadership Theories: Enhancing the Understanding of the Complexity, Subjectivity and Dynamic of Leadership. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media, 2010. Print.