Oprah's career advice: Step up

Raised by Oprah  

I grew up in the 80s. Like many of my contemporaries, I was a latchkey kid. My post-school day ritual from seventh grade until end-of-high school was watching The Oprah Winfrey Show every weekday at 4PM. Through those years, I noticed Oprah’s evolution and, consequently, that of her show. She moved from cataloging her dieting successes and failures in the early days to spearheading philanthropic and educational initiatives (e.g., Angel Network, book club) in the later years. With these undertakings, Oprah sought to include, challenge and uplift others via a powerful platform – television. It was inspiring to watch her and her show evolve.

Oprah’s career advice  

Although I stopped watching Oprah’s show consistently after heading off to college, through the years, I continued to view her as an invaluable touchstone and would periodically seek out her wisdom and insights. Not long ago, I came across a video (here) of an interview she gave at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2014. Surrounded by some of the brightest, most ambitious people in the world, predictably, the (now) media mogul and cultural icon was asked a number of career-related questions. As with her show, this hour-long interview offers a wealth of insights from someone who hasn’t just reached the pinnacle of success, but still continues to strive to do better…even now.

Advice 1: Being begets doing  

Noting Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In, the moderator asked Oprah what the title of her book would be. Oprah paused for a second and then said Step Up. She elaborated by saying that she believes that we cannot find out what we should be doing in life until we have done the (hard) work of figuring out who we should be being. Only when we know who we truly are can we discover how best to serve others. Unfortunately, our society has inverted this equation. Many people believe that their doing begets their being; their job defines them. Inevitably, they discover that success can be fleeting and no amount of doing can fill the emptiness that results from a disconnection with being. Oprah notes that if we first tackle the difficult task of discovering who we truly are, then work becomes an extension, rather than the definition, of who we are.

 

Advice 2: Focus on making the next right decision 

Our society seems to define success and failure in rather stark terms. Oprah, however, noted that she sees failure as life’s way of telling us that we are headed in the wrong direction. To illustrate, she recounted an early episode in her career where she was demoted from a news anchor to talk show host, because she kept crying for the victims of the disasters she was covering. As someone who grew up aspiring to be Barbara Walters, Oprah admitted that the demotion stung. Still, she took the talk show host job anyway. When she sat down to do her first show, however, she realized that she had finally found home. So, failure is not a dead end, but rather a detour to help redirect us to our true path.

How to know you’re headed in the right direction? Oprah shared that rather than trying to plan out her whole career, she simply tries to do the next right thing. To guide her, she relies heavily on her intuition. And, this process has never let her down.

 

Advice 3: Intention determines results

Reflecting on her show’s incredible success as the number one rated talk show throughout its 25-year run, Oprah believed that it was the result of her intention. Noting Newton’s third law of physics (For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction), she understood that she gets back what she puts forth into the world. As is, she and her team tried to be mindful of their intentions when putting together a show. When team members pitch a show idea to her, one of the first questions Oprah ask is what is their intention for doing the show. If their answer doesn’t resonate with her, then she won’t do the show.

Oprah shared that her core intention for her show was to connect, educate and uplift people so that they can see themselves in each other’s stories. As a result, in addition to having the highest-rated talk show in history, Oprah also became one of the most trusted names in America, if not the world. Intention determines success or failure. To succeed, focus on cultivating good intentions.

Advice 4: Our real work is serving others 

Oprah stressed that purpose-driven work is centered on serving others. Early in her show, she realized that there was really no boundary between her and her audience members. Moreover, she saw and valued her connection with them. She recognized that it was this connection that enabled her to reach and teach so many people throughout the world, regardless of culture or language.

Additionally, Oprah observed that we each have our own platform from which we can reach and serve others. And, that is our real work. Only by doing our real work are we able to live a life that is the highest and truest expression of ourselves.

The road less traveled 

In a room full of go-getters, it’s refreshing to hear someone like Oprah, who is so incredibly successful, reflect on the keys to her success. Her message was not about getting a great education or developing a smart career path. Rather, it was centered on getting in touch with yourself so you can discover the real work you were born to do.

So, the next time when you’re thinking about your next career move, rather than deliberating a lateral move, consider a vertical move: step up!

  

Thank you, Oprah, for yet another master class taught at the intersection of life and work!