When the going gets tough
Article by -
Pradip Sinha,
Associate Consultant,
The ICMR Case Studies and Management Resources.
Sadhu Ramakrishna,
Research Associate,
The ICMR Case Studies and Management Resources.
Abstract
The article talks about the amazing entrepreneurial
journey of the legendary Oprah Winfrey. It brings to the fore a number of
important lessons for all those who aspire to become entrepreneurs.
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Are great leaders and entrepreneurs born the way they
turn out to be or do they become what they are in the process of time?
Going by the story of Oprah Winfrey the second option seems to be the
obvious answer. In fact, a look at some of the successful entrepreneurs in
the history reveals that success has often been commensurate with the
hardships a particular leader faced during his/her formative years.
Richard Branson, Dhirubhai Ambani, Karsanbhai Patel, Steve Case, Sandy
Weill, Bill Gates, to name a few, have all achieved unprecedented success
not just by mere fluke but by their hard work, dedication, determination
and an attitude of standing against all odds.
So it is proved that
not all the great leaders and entrepreneurs are born; they can be
developed so, by setting goals and making transformation from within and
moving with the changing needs and demands of the time. Oprah Winfrey is
a classic example of how a person, despite of all types of odds, has
made a mark for herself in this male-dominated world.
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A look into her life reveals how she deals with her fame and
fortune in her good as well as bad times, and how she realized her childhood
dreams one after another.
She has climbed the heights with good foresight, achieving
one goal after another. Oprah, who started her career as a simple TV anchor,
went on to become the hostess of a popular TV show named after her (the Oprah
Winfrey show), to an actress, to a businesswomen to a producer and finally
becoming the "the queen of the soul" of millions all over the world, crossing
international, racial, and demographical barriers.
How many people have got the
show, which they host named after them? Not many. She was criticized for being
too tough with her employees. And the biggest criticism came when she expressed
her views on the show of April 16, 1996, which was about the mad cow disease.
But for great leaders and entrepreneurs, ups and downs are the part and parcel
of life. They never get demotivated, and if they go down, they always come back
with a bang.
And Oprah did exactly the same thus proving all her critics wrong
and their arguments baseless. She is unarguably the queen of the souls.
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