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GREAT COMMUNICATION SECRETS OF GREAT LEADERS
But Oprah isn’t just about wealth for herself. She sits at the helm of a bil-
lion-dollar enterprise, Harpo, Inc. (Oprah spelled backwards). The anchor is
The Oprah Winfrey Show, with a daily viewership of 22 million in the United
States alone, not to mention the other 106 countries in which it airs. It has been
the number one daytime show for 16 consecutive years. O, The Oprah Maga-
zine, which Oprah describes as a “personal growth manual,” is considered the
“most successful startup ever” in magazine publishing, with revenues topping
$140 million in 2001 and a paid subscriber base of 2.5 million. Her company
also produces hit TV movies such as Tuesdays with Morrie and has a stake in
Oxygen Media, described as “a cable TV company for women.” She also ven-
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tures on the self-help circuit, speaking to audiences live. Oprah is also an
accomplished actress. She received an Oscar nomination for her role in Steven
Spielberg’s adaptation of The Color Purple.Another film, Beloved, was a crit-
ical hit, but was unsuccessful at the box office.
She has resisted taking her company public. “If I lost control of the busi-
ness, I’d lose myself—or at least the ability to be myself. Owning myself is a
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way to be myself.” That’s not a bad assessment of someone who has made a
business of self-disclosure, both her own and that of her guests. She does,
however, know how to make strategic alliances—with King World for distri-
bution of her show and with Hearst Publications for her magazine. Oprah has
also delegated the business operations to the president of Harpo, Jeff Jacobs,
who has a 10 percent stake in the business. “He’s a piranha—and that’s a good
thing for me to have,” she says, in deference to the cutthroat world of multi-
media entertainment. 14
SELF-REVELATION AS A MEANS OF CONNECTION
Oprah has also collaborated with fitness guru Bob Greene to write a couple
of books on fitness. Frequently the subject of barbs from comedians as well
as commentators, Oprah has battled her weight all of her life. Her up-and-
down struggle has been chronicled as much by her as by others, and her
willingness to share her weaknesses (along with her triumphs) rings with
authenticity.
Oprah has the capacity to crusade for issues in which she believes strongly.
In 1992 she produced a documentary on abuse within families that was broad-
cast simultaneously on CBS, NBC, and PBS. She followed this broadcast by
covering the topic on her own show, including a segment in which a young
woman confronted her abusive stepfather during the program’s taping. She
continued speaking out on the topic, including traveling to Capitol Hill to tes-
tify. Only later did she come to the realization that she was not the one to blame
for being abused as a child. The sharing of this intensely private revelation is an
example of how she injects herself into her communications as a means of
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helping others come to grips with their own personal demons. A year later, the