What Career Women Can Learn From Oprah Winfrey

http://blogs.forbes.com/lisaquast/2011/06/13/what-career-women-can-learn-from-oprah-winfrey/Over the years, one of the role models I’ve eagerly observed from afar has been Oprah Winfrey. Her abilities as a female entrepreneur are what inspired me to leave the confines of corporate America and start my own consulting company focused on helping women succeed in their careers. And there are a lot of lessons career women can learn from Oprah.
Ms. Winfrey defied the odds stacked against her in life and used her abilities as an entrepreneur to take Harpo, Inc. from a small, five-person production company to a 430-person multimedia conglomerate. “Today, she is one of a handful of black billionaires across the globe; her net worth estimated at $2.5 billion” (Alleyne, 2008).
Born to unmarried parents, a miner father and a mother who worked as a maid, Oprah’s early years were filled with abuse, loneliness, and heartache. But what she was forced to overcome became a driving force for making Oprah what she is now, an incredible entrepreneur and mentor to women and men around the world.
“Her unprecedented success in American business serves as the undisputed blueprint for many minority entrepreneurs. Her leadership has broken down barriers; her business instinct the stuff of legend; and her innovation unprecedented. She has spent her entire career beating the odds – and has inspired millions of business-minded minorities in the process” (Allyne, 2008).
What career women can learn from Oprah:

• Sometimes it pays not to “over plan” things: Oprah claims not to be much of a strategist; rather, “she asserts that divine inspiration, not strategic planning, is the key to her company’s success: ‘I haven’t planned one thing – ever. I have just been led by a strong instinct, and I have made choices based on what was right for me at the time’” (Allyne, 2008).
• Demonstrate a strong work ethic: While Oprah worked as a news anchor she also took on the responsibilities as host of a morning television talk show. Throughout her career, Oprah has never shied away from hard work, she welcomes it.
• Don’t be afraid to be an entrepreneur: Her entrepreneurial mind-set and willingness to take risks has paid off by propelling her forward throughout her career. She sought out opportunities as an actress, invested in start-up businesses, such as Oxygen, an independent cable network for women, and most recently, launched the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
• Create a moral-support network: Oprah created a cheering squad with people such as her best friend, Gayle King, and Stedman Graham, who helped her during difficult and lonely times in her career.
• Create a professional-support network: Over the years Oprah has built up a professional network and been able to reach out to some of the most successful business people in the world for help or advice. In turn, she has also given back to others such as helping Barack Obama with his political campaign for president.
• Lead and inspire others: Oprah’s leadership style demands that nothing be taken for granted. “I don’t yell at people, I don’t mistreat people, I don’t talk down to people. Treating people with respect is the most important thing to me. It’s not just talk” (Allyne, 2008).

Oprah has been a wonderful role model for myself and for women all around the world because she has demonstrated the key traits necessary to achieve your dreams. She has proven that it does not matter from where you come; what matters is where you want to go, how you get yourself there, and how you treat people along the way. She has shown me that to be a successful entrepreneur takes courage and the ability to try new things, even in the face of uncertainty.

But what I will probably always remember is that she has become more than a talk show host and more than a business woman – she is a mentor to women around the world.