Oprah Winfrey on the importance of connecting with the people you’re serving

In the clip below, Oprah explains that the reason her show worked was because she understood her audience and deeply appreciated her viewers as human beings.

She shares the following insight from a conversation with Whole Foods founder John Mackey:

“The people who you are serving and who you’re trying to sell to are as important… as your shareholders.”

And great service is really about helping people achieve their potential and constantly tying that back into the purpose of what you’re building:

“Everybody wants to fulfill the highest, truest expression of yourself as a human being… My understanding of that has allowed me to reach everyone…. I’m trying to bring little pieces of light into people’s lives… My job is not to be a talk show host or just to own a network. I am here to raise the level of consciousness, to connect people to ideas and stories so that they can see themselves and live better lives.”

This is a common refrain we hear from the best founders. Companies do better when they have a clear mission and a deep sense of purpose.

Full video: Stanford Graduate School of Business “Oprah Winfrey on Career, Life, and Leadership” (Apr 2014)