Learning from News Makers
Recently, I found myself inspired by three people in the news. One person is very famous and a global A-list player in the entertainment field. Another was, until recently, unknown outside the technology industry, but suddenly found himself thrust onto the world stage for sparking a democratic movement. The third was relatively unknown outside of North Carolina education circles. While these three people come from diverse circumstances, for me, Oprah Winfrey, Wael Ghonim and Elizabeth Redenbaugh illustrate two important facts of leadership: leadership is all about influence and leadership takes courage.
My friends will say, “Oprah Winfrey, really?” Fear not, friends — I do not remember ever watching her show. However, while we tough fire-folk might find it easy to dismiss Oprah as nothing more than a celebrity, she exemplifies a key leadership lesson: Leadership is all about influence. Time magazine recently named Oprah to its list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Besides her status as a television pioneer, entertainment superstar and pop culture icon, Oprah has made extraordinary contributions to the world through her philanthropic and literacy efforts. Her influence has become legendary.
Sure, she is a rich, powerful entertainment mogul, but Oprah connects with people, and that is a source of her influence. By connecting with people on a personal level, Oprah got millions of Americans reading, enlightened her viewers about history and exposed her audience to ideas and advice that could improve their lives. People chose to follow her, and Oprah's cultural influence is so great that marketers have coined the phrase “the Oprah Effect” to describe the boost that a business, product, book or website receives after a mere mention on her show.
A few statistics reported by Bloomberg Businessweek help us understand the power of Oprah Winfrey's influence:
Oprah's Book Club picks from 1996 to 2002 sold, on average, 1 million copies each.
When Oprah demonstrated a popular gaming system on her show, pre-orders for the system rose 42%.
After Oprah mentioned a cupcake company, their sales jumped 50%.
Oprah campaigned for President Obama, gaining him an estimated 1 million votes.
One popular social networking site's share of U.S. Web traffic jumped 24% the day Oprah used it live on air.
However, Oprah's influence means more than marketing gold. How does one use all that influence for good?
Oprah's fans donated more than $80 million to her Angel Network, a grant-making nonprofit organization that gave 100% of the funds it raised directly to charity programs in more than 30 countries. Oprah covered administrative costs out-of-pocket.
More than 420,000 people have signed Oprah's pledge to stop distracted driving.
Author Kathleen Rooney credited Oprah with motivating millions to pick up books.
Time magazine also named Wael Ghonim to its list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Ghonim recently received the JFK Profile in Courage Award on behalf of the Egyptian people. According to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, the award reflects the late president's 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book recounting the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers by taking principled stands for unpopular positions. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation presents the award annually to a public official or officials at the federal, state or local level whose actions best demonstrate the qualities of politically courageous leadership in the spirit of Profiles in Courage.
Ghonim is the 31-year-old head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa for Google. In January of this year, Egyptian state security forces arrested Ghonim for his use of social media. His crime was to create a Facebook page condemning the killing of an Alexandria, Egypt, businessman by police. Ghonim's Web page became an important means by which protestors could organize demonstrations that brought tens of thousands of Egyptians into the streets to protest the government of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Authorities released Ghonim after two weeks, whereupon he immediately delivered an emotional speech to tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square, declaring, “This is not a time for individuals. … It is a time for us to say just one thing: Egypt above all.” As we now know, the Mubarak government has fallen, and the largely peaceful Egyptian revolution serves as an inspiration for change movements elsewhere. Ghonim became a prominent face of the Egyptian revolution, and many saw him as that revolution's symbolic leader. For his part, Ghonim remains humble, continues to downplay his role and says that everyone contributed and that no one person is a hero. However, he exposed himself to dramatic personal consequences, including threats to his physical safety. And as evidenced by his award, he exemplifies a key leadership lesson: Leadership takes courage.
Courageous also describes Elizabeth Redenbaugh, who joined Ghonim as a 2011 Profile in Courage Award recipient. Redenbaugh is a North Carolina School Board member who opposed a school redistricting plan that would, in effect, segregate neighborhoods. Redenbaugh, who has described herself as a “very, very ordinary person,” said she could not shake off a Bible passage that said all humans were worthy of dignity and respect, and her belief that there is no dignity in segregation. The redistricting plan passed, and Redenbaugh was the only white Republican board member to oppose the plan — a stance that pitted her against both friends and neighbors. People threatened her at school board meetings and on the radio, accusing her of destroying her own community. However, Redenbaugh stuck to her values and stood her ground.
In his book, Leading at a Higher Level, leadership guru Ken Blanchard describes one relationship between leadership and courage when he says, “It takes courage to create a vision, and it takes courage to act on it.” The U.S. Army's values speak to the relationship further, declaring that “personal courage isn't the absence of fear; rather, it's the ability to put fear aside and do what's necessary. It takes two forms, physical and moral. Good leaders demonstrate both.” At the Profiles in Courage Award ceremony, Caroline Kennedy, the late president's daughter, remarked that each of the honorees embodied her father's belief that one person of courage makes a majority.
I am glad I've been paying attention to the news, because each of these people inspired me. While they come from diverse circumstances — one a famous entertainment mogul, one a high-tech revolutionary and one a principled school board member — Oprah Winfrey, Wael Ghonim and Elizabeth Redenbaugh illustrate, for me, two important facts of leadership: it's all about influence and it takes courage.
Mike DeGrosky is chief executive officer of the Guidance Group, a consulting organization specializing in the human and organizational aspects of the fire service, and an adjunct instructor in leadership studies for Fort Hays State University. Follow him on Twitter @guidegroup or via LinkedIn.
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