Oprah Winfrey & Leadership Essay Sample

Oprah Winfrey could easily be considered the “Queen of Change.” Before even entering onto her web site at Oprah.Com a pop up invites you to “Dream Big” which is just what she did when she was a little girl growing up in an impoverished neighborhood. Since that time, she employed change as a noun and a verb in every aspect of her life and business. A large part of her leadership style relates to transformation, for herself, her staff, her businesses and most of all as a product for her following. To maintain this type of fluid change requires strong leadership and vision.
The process of change is one of the most important and difficult of leadership responsibilities. Without change, a business stagnates and dies, yet change just for its own sake is not good either. To effectuate productive change, consistent values and goals must be balanced with innovative methods and take place at a pace that allows for the global shift, yet does not interrupt the workflow. This was no easy task for a woman whose business product was transformation, yet her leadership style of embracing personal change first made this possible.
Oprah’s style is warm, open hearted and accepting, this applies to the way she treats her employees as well as her guests and viewers. Her personality invites people to open up to her and share, whether it is on stage or in an office. As a leader, it also engenders trust; people know she takes their opinions into consideration when making a decision. They are willing to follow her because she cares. Fostering confidence is an important first step in the leadership process. If people do not have confidence in their leaders, they consistently question their motivations, decisions and processes.
Change is only one aspect of leadership. It is necessary to lead people through successive changes, but another aspect is determining what elements should, or even must remain the same. This is one place where Oprah Winfrey shines. She praises people for the good they have done, and seeks out their positive elements, and the positive elements in any situation. By doing this she creates a firm, stable foundation for her leadership process. People know what the ground rules and the basics are. With that in place, she has something to build upon, and can build quickly. The one before it supports each new element. These elements can then be tested for effectiveness and either used as the next step, or discarded if need be. She is not afraid of making a mistake and admitting either. This element of her leadership style actually inspires confidence. Many people believe a leader should be flawless. This is impossible and Oprah knows it, she has the common sense to admit when she is wrong, apologize if necessary and change course. By doing this her people know that they can trust her to address any unforeseen problems simply and honestly. Extrapolated out it they can also assume that if Oprah says it is so, or asks them to do something it is the best decision she can make based upon her most recent knowledge and understanding. Having people with this kind of faith and confidence puts her immediately in a powerful leadership role.
Because Oprah is willing to listen and consider before she acts, she has been able to use this as large part of her leadership style. This consistency of style and vision allows her to accept a strong leadership position in a business that focuses upon to transformation, for herself, her staff, her businesses and most of all as a product.