Harpos Chances of Successful Continuum after Oprah Winfrey - Article Example

The Oprah Winfrey show where she showed her social support to the population both local and international has revolutionized society to become more open-minded towards discussing social issues openly. More important, her role in promoting the social activity of finding a solution to these social issues and implementing these solutions. This has influenced many communities to outgrow certain levels of criticism and denial well enough to address social issues faced daily.
13.1. Potential dangers of having a super-powerful leader
There are some potential dangers in having a super powerful leader such as Oprah Winfrey being the head of your company (“Case: Harpo,” n.d). One of the dangers is when the leader has so much power and decides to abuse and misuse this power. This action is very dangerous especially if the investors are engaged in false investment schemes promoted by the leader that will only have them to lose their finances. The company will gain a bad reputation, and recovery is very hefty.
Another potential danger is the leader instilling too much fear in the employees of the company. There is a certain model of treatment that every leader will want to articulate in their company toward themselves and even towards the employees. If the leaders start to be harsh and have the management do the same, the employees’ performance will be negatively affected, thus, making the company employees fearful of the leader and unable to achieve the company goals every year.

13.2. Survival of Harpo in case of departure
As already witnessed in history, when a super powerful leader of a company or nation departs from it either through retirement or because of an ailment or death, the chances of creating a continuum of success are very slim. The best ways in which Oprah Winfrey can ensure that Harpo will survive after her departure, whether due to death, ailment, or even due to a tarnished public appeal is by creating and implementing a leadership succession plan. In this situation, she should have an active plan of having every individual undertake a cognitive performance test to prove their potential capabilities in the industry. She also needs to have the employees undertake challenging tasks that strengthen their independent skills, qualifications, and reasoning capabilities well enough to establish leadership standing in each of their job duties.
The next step is to ensure that there is a continuum of promotion in the company where the juniors get direct training for a new job position they acquire in the company. The true leadership succession plan will have Winfrey select several senior leaders that she will train in her position and have them undertake several projects in the company to exercise their skills. She should promote them in their good performances and have the public eye promote these new leaders and recognize the leadership skills of these potential future leaders. This plan is very proficient as Oprah’s departure from any cause will not leave this seat void, but can be easily filled by any one of the trained leaders. The company will keep moving forward without any waste of time and funds.

13.3. Types of concerns as a holder of referent power
Referent power is the level of power an individual has over a team or a group of followers. Oprah Winfrey has managed to incur referent power in her previous career on the Oprah Winfrey Show. In the Harpo Company, she will also need to create referent power by instilling the model of making the employees comfortable while they are around her. She can do this by opting to conduct a weekly one on one discussion with the employees where she can advise them on how to tackle their current work issues. This will help the employees to feel freer around her and even motivated to create greater success daily. She can also create projects that will enhance the employees’ skills while confidently merging them into the challenge. This will nurture their leadership skills and as well enhance the success of the company every day. Read More