Oprah Winfrey is one female whom you can deem the complete package. She rose to fame with the popular talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. She had the flare to interview a celebrity or the person next door in an excellent, yet diverse manner, which absolutely boosted her fan base and made her move loveable all-round.
She is an inspiration as a media personality and also as a philanthropist. Here’s what you can learn from her as an entrepreneur:
Invest in you
Once you reach a certain position or business level, you start believing there is no scope for self-improvement. But, if you closely notice the activities of Ms. Winfrey, you will note that she never loses focus on self-improvement.
She has spent significant amounts of time and resources on self-development. She believes that the moment you stop investing in yourself, you start writing off future dividends of your life.
This is the first lesson that you must keep in mind as entrepreneur. If you stop evolving yourself and your business, your growth is likely to come to a standstill. This obviously is not good for either you or your business. Therefore, constantly search for new ways in which you can alter your business processes or functioning to give it a new dimension.
Be Responsible
There was a time in Oprah Winfrey’s career where the show was making poor network ratings and she was accused or rather cornered for it. Instead of playing the blame game or getting involved in controversies she chose to take charge of the situation.
She accepted that she owns it and took the responsibility to fix it. She did not opt for any PR tactics but instead worked on productive ways to boost ratings.
Business is susceptible to uncertain market situations and hence you must take control of the situation. At times, entrepreneurs land in a phase where they fail to find a way out of the situation.
Remember, there is always an alternative option which brings you out of your current position because situations are temporary and will change. All you need to do is find an applicable solution which suits your situation and business.
For instance, small businesses always find it tricky to maintain cash flow finance for their organisation. Sometimes, they face temporary financial gaps and, in such situations,, they get in touch with companies that provide them with temporary financial assistance.
In a similar way, you can also search for a solution for a hurdle that your business is experiencing currently.
Empower your strengths and seek assistance for weaknesses
Looking at the graph of Oprah Winfrey any laymen will consider her to be master of all trades. But a possible fact could be that she specialises one skill and averagely good in everything else.
There is no doubt that she excels in multiple fields and lives her dream but there are some of her weaknesses which she handles in that process.
The key is that she is not great at everything just like you and me. But, she definitely, knows how to optimally use her strengths and search experts who can help her do extremely well where she’s weak.
Learn to laugh on yourself
If you have watched Winfrey’s interviews or shows you will notice that she often laughs out loud at her own expense. Even while having a conversation with someone she has a habit of doing so.
As humans we are bound to make mistakes so taking them extremely seriously will do no good to you. When you discover a new avenue for your business, it is pretty much possible to make mistakes and simply learn from them.
Every business journey teaches you a different lesson which eventually helps you to take better decisions or give you a glimpse of different perspective. So, learn to laugh at your mistakes.
Be open to risks
An entrepreneur will be well-acquainted with the fact that no risk in business means no rewards. If only Oprah Winfrey had not risked her valuable assets (namely her fame and name) with bold projects than she would have lost some really good opportunities of her career.
But, this does not mean that you pick every project that comes in your way, sometimes, you need to take calculated risks. The lesser the number of risks the lesser exposed you are to good opportunities and this eventually restricts your growth.
Develop your communication skills
Communication is a key to several hurdles and it allows people to understand your point. If entrepreneur fails to put across the message in right words and tone, then people are going to guess or assume things.
Therefore, it is essential to develop your communication skills, it may be a gradual process but has a significant influence in the way people perceive you. One of the best ways is to connect emotionally with your audience.
