In January 1984 she became anchor of the failing A.M. Chicago, a morning talk show that consistently placed last in the ratings. Winfrey did a complete overhaul of the show, changing its focus to current and controversial topics.
There are a couple important things to look at in how Oprah approached her new job and turned it into a ratings powerhouse.
The first thing is, a morning talk show had a lot of potential, and it fit into her purpose and goals in life. So she was operating within who she was and what she wanted.
Next, picking a medium where she could put her stamp on it was extremely important. She knew she could successfully operate within the morning talk show space if she could make it into what she wanted.
Third, she understood what needed to be done in order to change it around. She just didn't come walking in with no plan or no strategy. She had one, and because it was the right one, it worked!
Last, Oprah had the will to follow through on her plan. She didn't hesitate to implement that which she knew would be a success for her and the show.
This is especially important when thinking about either acquiring a business or taking over a division within a company - specifically if it needs to be turned around.
It's not enough to get puffed up about a promotion if you don't have the plans in place to make a difference, or to buy a company with problems if you don't know what to do to turn it around. In both cases you're simply taking on someone else's problems and headaches.
This is the key to any struggling business or company division. That's why a person within a company has to carefully look at what they may be being offered. Don't jump at it without examining all aspects of what is going on and what needs to be changed. If you understand the problems and know the solution, then make sure the company leadership has the will to allow you to follow through on it. If they don't, be careful about accepting it, you could be setting yourself up for failure.
From the standpoint of buying a business, it's your will that is involved, so that shouldn't be a problem, so from there, it's making sure you have a handle on the problems and the solutions. If you do, you have the opportunity to turn a poorly run business into a revenue generator.
In both cases, the place to start is in the particular business field itself. You must know that it's a growing area and has a lot of upside potential. In other words, the problems a company is facing can't be related to a dying area being served. The example of buying a buggy company when cars started to emerge as the choice of transportation is an obvious case.
Just make sure you're not buying or being promoted to the equivalent of a buggy company.
Other Oprah Resources:
Oprah Winfrey - About.com Readers' Most Admired Entrepreneur
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That approach is awesome. She is positive and her actions are inspiring. Love to hear this.
Thanks.
Alex Liu
How To Become A Millionaire
http://secretsofunlimitedwealth.com
Posted by: Alex Liu | January 26, 2008 8:44 PM | Permalink to Comment