Oprah Winfrey as a Visionary

Oprah Winfrey is an embodiment of a visionary leader. Visionary leaders see the future in their own unique and mysterious way. They see a horizon filled with opportunities, solutions and game changing concepts. They think outside the box and address the systemic root causes of problems to create real breakthroughs. They are social innovators and change agents. Their insight, imagination and boldness sets an agenda for higher purpose that motivates people and brings them together around a shared sense of purpose. They do not believe that is only one answer to a question or a polarized issue. They solve problems seeing some truth on both sides of the issue and offering compromise in a win,win solution. A visionary requires a “balanced expression of spiritual, mental, emotional and physical dimension.”2003 Corinne Mclaughin. They build these values from both negative and positive experiences in their lives. They are masterful learners that never stop learning. They are not corrupted by power but rather are elevated by it and give back to the people they serve.

A visionary I believe follows the conceptual framework of a systems thinker.
As per Peter M. Senge “ Systems thinking also needs the disciplines of building shared vision, mental models, team learning and personal mastery.” Oprah Winfrey built a shared vision that inspired millions. Her contributions can be felt beyond the world of television where she was the producer and host of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” since September 1986. She showed mental models can be changed. She brought out all her internal demons and presented it to the world in her television show. In so doing she exposed her own thinking effectively and exposed it to her 21 million viewers. She masterfully, managed advocacy and Inquiry.
She proved her personal mastery by continuously learning. ON CNN Larry King Weekend September 9, 2001 Oprah said “what I’m trying to do with the Oprah Winfrey show is the same thing I’m trying to do with my