【カナダ留学】オプラーウィンフリーを知っていますか？
こんにちは！
私は現在、カナダトロントで1年間のcoop留学生として、ビジネスの勉強をしながら、インターンを探しています。
現在は座学期間なので、毎日カレッジでビジネスの勉強をしています。
私は現在international business management という６カ月間のコースを受講しているのですが、ひと月に一単元勉強するというカリキュラムで、先月の内容はorganizational behavior というものでした。
Organizational behavior is the study of how individuals and groups interact within an organization and how these interactions affect an organization's performance toward its goal or goals.
組織の中でのリーダーシップについてや、組織の中での力関係や争いに関して、いいグループやチームの組み方など、組織の中での人間関係の構築の仕方について学びました。
毎月、月の最後には最終レポートと最終プレゼンがあるのですが、私のグループのテーマは、オプラーウィンフリーのリーダーとしての素質について分析するというものでした。
恥ずかしながら、それまで私はオプラーウィンフリーについて知らなかったのですが、私の人生のロールモデルに加わるほど、彼女の人生や人格に感銘を受けたので、記念に私がオプラーのリーダーシップについて分析したレポートをここに残したいと思います。
日本ではそれほど有名ではないような気がするんですが、アメリカを中心に知らない人はいないほど有名なひとなので、興味が出た方は少し調べてみてください(^_-)-☆
つたない英語ながら、私のレポートの中では、オプラーの業績や人格についても少し触れています。
Oprah showed a lot of her leadership traits in many situations. In this leadership theory section, we explain her leadership traits and experiences based on “Charismatic Theory”.
First, we explain about “Charismatic theory”. Sociologist Max Weber defined “Charisma” as “a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which they are set apart from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities.” The first researcher to consider OB in terms of charismatic leadership was Robert House. According to House, “Charismatic leadership theory” is a theory that states people often follow some leaders who have heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities and give these leaders power.” There are 4 traits which identify charismatic leaders: “vision and articulation”, “Personal risk”, “Sensitivity to follower needs” and “ Unconventional behavior”.
“Vision and articulation” is defined as “A long-term strategy for attaining a goal or goals by linking the present with a better future for the organization.” Oprah Winfrey is known for articulating a powerful and transformative vision throughout her career. She hosted “ Oprah Winfrey Show”, which aired in syndication from 1986 to 2011 and became one of the most popular and iconic daytime talk shows in television history. During the show, she talked about a diverse range of topics, including personal development, relationship, health, self-improvement. She sometimes shared her own experiences during the show, and she demonstrated her vision for everyone living better lives. These ideas induced a feeling of sympathy from viewers.
In addition, she often addressed serious problems such as LGBTQ rights or racism against black people. She had a supportive stance of LGBTQ rights and she used her platform such as not only her tv show but also her magazine or something to raise awareness about issues faced by the LGBTQ community. She sometimes featured LGBTQ individuals and their stories, even interviewed prominent individual figures on her shows. Also, she advocated racism against black people, including disparities in education, criminal justice and economic opportunities. Similar to the LGBTQ problems, she tackled these problems during her shows. Also, she produced and participated in documentaries that tackle issues of racial injustice and inequality. For example, she co-created the documentary series "When They See Us," which examines the wrongful conviction of five black and Latino teenagers in the Central Park jogger case. She also featured these problems in her books. As you can see from her actions, she had a very clear vision which is “ improving LGBTQ and black people’s status” and she definitely contributed to this.
“Personal risk” is defined as ”Willing to take on high personal risk, incur high costs, and engage in self-sacrifice to achieve the vision.” As we mentioned in “Vision and articulation”, she often addressed controversial topics on her TV show. This is sometimes high-risk in her career, but these risk-taking actions demonstrate her willingness to take risks for a greater purpose, and a lot of viewers were impressed deeply and got courage.
She had the personality not only as a TV program host but also as a businesswoman. She founded “Harpo Productions” in 1986, which played a central role in producing content for "The Oprah Winfrey Show. Harpo Productions has been involved in producing television shows, documentaries, and films. Also, she launched “Oprah Winfrey Network(OWN)” on January 1, 2011, as a joint venture between Oprah Winfrey and Discovery, Inc. This is the TV channel, and she has been involved in creating all of the TV shows which were broadcasted in the channel. In addition to this, she co-founded "O, The Oprah Magazine" with Hearst Communications in 2000, launched a website named “Oprah.com”, which featured contents related to her shows, magazine, and other interests, and built “Oprah’s book club, which featured Oprah’s many activities. As we mentioned above, she expanded her business into various fields even if there were some risks. Her business achieved success and it is said that her total assets are about 2.5 billion dollars. Her spirit of challenge attracted a lot of people.
Also she founded some charity organizations, such as “Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for girls”, “Oprah Winfrey Foundation” which she has used to support various causes, and she supported various nonprofit organizations and charitable initiatives. She spent a lot of money on charity activities. It’s like a risk-taking action, but her activities help a lot of people around the world and influence a lot of people continuously.
“Sensitivity to follower needs” is defined as “ Perceptive of others’ abilities and responsive to their needs and feelings.” As we mentioned above, Oprah gave a lot of perspective and the ways of living better lives for people through her platform. These evoked people’s sympathy and met the needs of a lot of people, such as “I want to be happy” or “ I want to live healthy” or something. These needs are semi-permanent, and connect human’s basic needs so that Oprah’s lesson has been passed down for a long time.
Also we mentioned above, she acted for helping minority people such as LGBTQ, black people, women and poor people. Her donation and expressing her attitude directly met the needs of mynorities.
“ Unconventional behavior” is defined as “Engages in behaviors that are perceived as novel and counter to norms.” She engaged in a lot of novel things such as hosting a TV show, launching her own TV channel, and starting her own media company. However, the biggest reason why it is novel and counter to norms is that she is a “black woman”. At that time, a lot of actions for improving black people’s status were taken such as the Civil Rights Movement, but still black people’s status was not high compared to white people. Also, the women’s status was not high compared to the men. It was especially rare of black women to play on a global scale. She broke the fixed image for the black women by proceeding with her business. She often addressed issues affecting women, such as women’s rights, personal empowerment, and gender equality in “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. Also, she founded “The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls” in South Africa in 2007. The academy focuses on providing quality education and leadership development for academically talented girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is designed to empower the next generation of female leaders. Also, she has been an advocate for addressing and combating sexual harassment and taken various actions. She suffered from sexual abuse when she was young so she devoted herself to solving these problems. For example, Oprah delivered a powerful and widely acclaimed speech at the 75th Golden Globe Awards in 2018. In her speech, she addressed the #MeToo movement and spoke out against sexual harassment and inequality. Her many actions for improving women and black people’s status gave a big impact to the world. Also, her attitude for challenging unconventional things gave courage to a lot of people.
Oprah Winfrey has shown her leadership in Charismatic ways and has impacted the world. However, it is said there are some drawbacks or challenges in a charismatic leader’s style. For example, Charismatic leaders sometimes use power for personal gain and self-aggrandizement. However, it is obvious that she devoted herself to people, such as donating a lot of money for poor people, and continuously expressing her ideas for improving people’s lives without fear of getting criticism . That’s why she is called “the woman of integrity”.
読んでくださった方がもしいれば、ほんとに感謝です(^_-)-☆
いいね待ってます(^_-)-☆
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