Book Review - Oprah by Kitty Kelly

On my mission to align myself with inspirational people, reading as many biographies of inspirational and influential people are part of achieving this goal, especially women who have made their mark on society. Oprah Winfrey was the first inspirational lady that came to mind. All I really knew about Oprah was her successful show and that she did a lot of social upliftment investment projects, so I was keen to learn more about the force and dynamism that is Oprah. When I recently saw that she had launched her OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) – I was intrigued to find out more about the driving force and everything that is Oprah. I am eager to learn more from someone that has despite challenges been able to catapult herself to such amazing heights. 

When I ordered Kitty Kelly’s “Oprah”,  my very first reaction when I started reading it was disappointment that it was the “unauthorised” biography. But I thought, let me give the book the benefit of the doubt, and not judge it before reading it. I also then rationalised that it would / could then provide an unbiased, unsentimental view of Oprah.  To a certain extend it did this, but there seems to be an underlying bitterness that comes through from the author – my sense is that Oprah did not want to endorse this for whatever reason, so the tone is very factual, but could be construed and as I read between the lines, as unpleasant. I also question the people that did give interviews – their loyalty and integrity is questionable.  I am not at all surprised that Oprah signs strict NDA and confidentiality agreements with everyone she engages with, she is protecting herself and her brand. It comes across that people are happy to tap into her generosity and ride on the Oprah name for their own gain, but quick to turn on her when things don’t go their way.

I admire Orpah, she has achieved a lot – she set her mind to being successful and did not let anything or anyone deter her from this goal. She gets a lot of criticism in this book, with a half-hearted attempt in the last chapter to recognise and acknowledge the strides and inroads that she has made globally –

Say what you want about Oprah, she has achieved A LOT.

Recommendable – no, it was like swimming through syrup – I will also be taking it off out of our team’s library

Rate – 3/10

Fedup with Facebook

Facebook has been the cause of too many family feuds, fallout with friends and fuelling of egos.

I love the fact that Facebook is keeping me in contact with my friends that live abroad, it does close that gap significantly, and I am very grateful to Facebook for that. The daily motivational snippets from leaders that I ‘Like’ such as such Brad Sugars and Robin Sharma and healthy tips and count down to the TwoOceans marathon is also great. I do however question why some companies do decide to invest in social media without a total communication strategy supporting it, but that discussion is not what I have on my heart today.

What I find sad about general Facebook use is that it has taken away real genuine interaction with family and friends. If it was not for Facebook I would not have known about half the things that (supposedly ‘close’) family and friends were doing. Why is the platform used to make big (usually dramatic) announcements? What’s happened to a simple phone call to touch base or to share exciting news in person? (or at a very basic level text message). Even though we are becoming a lot more acquainted with people’s personal lives (every single detail), sadly we are losing the art of interpersonal relationships and I suppose basic etiquette.

I am definitely not guilt-free of the above! So, from here on, I am committing to be get back to basics and will be making a concerted effort to get back to making personal connections.

Volunteering to volunteer

Last week I was involved in my first big project with Rotary – behind the scenes at the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Momentum Cycle Tour (what a mouthful!) – the Rotary Club of Newlands is incredibly involved in this initiative with the majority of the club members involved in some way be it with the refreshment  stations, sector marshalling, sweeps,  JOC | VOC, logistics. I was stationed at the JOC | VOC, which is situated at Tygerberg Hospital disaster management centre. What an operation! It was incredible to see and experience the cycle tour behind the scenes. For the past couple of years, at maximum I would walk to the top of the street, watch a couple of cyclists before heading out of the ‘Republic’ for the day. Honestly, not really giving the whole cycling day another thought. When I saw my name on the roster for the day, I thought – volunteering – oooh, I don’t know if it is for me but, oh well, why not?  

What was incredibly interesting, was the level of calmness behind the scenes on the day and how smoothly everything went. Jim Collins’ book, Great by Choice came to mind, that by doing things steadily and consistently great things happen. 

Volunteering, was out of my comfort zone, but the challenge of doing something totally different has opened my eyes to a wonderfully different world, the friendliness, fellowship and camaraderie was something that I had not experienced before. I don’t know how to put it in words, but there was a lightness, a giddiness that I felt after the long day and the sense of excitement to be part of something bigger.

Is friendship a farce?

Is friendship a farce?  Last year I had a fallout with very close friends that got me wondering about the whole concept of friendship and what exactly it is all about. I try not to delve too much in the past, so have tried to move on, but the cruelness of it all still haunts me, and every now and again my brain wanders in that direction especially when I go for long runs – that’s when I try to make sense of life  and formulate my blogs in my head.

With that said, I have recently been making sure that I surround myself with positive people and have been meeting incredibly inspirational people. Which again has made me realise that often you need to let go of something to open up opportunities to other experiences and interactions.  That is the same in business, sometimes you need to let go of projects or even clients in order to move forward and grow.  It’s daunting, and nerve racking, but without change,  growth cannot take place. When you run your business, all you want to do is please everyone and do work for everyone – but at the end of the day it is important that you target and know who you want to do business with, resonate with the people you deal with, internally as well as externally, and that projects are aligned to your core values so that you can do your best work and keep growing.

Great by Choice - yes!

February 2014 - This was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed - it is the first Jim Collins book that I've read, so am keen to read his others as well.  I really enjoyed the examples used, e.g. the contrast in the expeditions of Ambudsen and Scott to the South Pole.

 

Lesson from the book: By doing things consistently, keeping an eye on the end result and being steady in achieving your goals, you will reap the rewards in the long run. 

Recommendable? Definitely - a good easy read.
Rating: 8.5/10