Oprah The Best Boss Ever? Host Taking Entire Staff, Families On Mediterranean Cruise

Chicago Sun-Times:

Oprah Winfrey : the world's greatest boss?

For the second time in recent years, she's making a strong case for that title by taking her entire staff and their families on vacation. This time they're going on a lavish Mediterranean cruise.

Read the whole story: Chicago Sun-Times

Comments

[mummbleswers]

07:17 PM on 06/22/2009

Short answer: NO! I indirectly worked for Oprah a couple years ago and I can tell you she is a workaholic and expects EVERYONE working underneath her to exhibit the same "ditch your personal life" and work attitude. Ridiculous demands under even more ridiculous timeliness. And if you had something going on that was important in your personal life - forget it. The attitude is - what could be more important than Oprah? They were even nice enough to call me at home and demand I go back up to work, in the valley, during rush hour - AFTER they told me we were done for the night and I can go to my home 45 minutes away. These people were awful.

[toocoldout]

06:38 AM on 06/23/2009

If you think hosting a talk show 200 hours a year, and writing one page a month in a magazine makes Oprah a workaholic, I can understand why you would find the workload too stressful. Oprah's one of the few shows where you get the whole summer off, not to mention breaks around Christmas, Newyears etc.

[TraderMark1]

07:14 PM on 06/22/2009

At this point if Oprah was an independent country her GDP would be larger than probably 25 of the smallest nations on Earth!

[btrim]

05:42 PM on 06/22/2009

Lawd she be nice and junk fo all dem white folks what do de work on de show.

[nomorefed]

05:09 PM on 06/22/2009

If the truth were being reported we'd be having riots in the streets. And meanwhile the top execs in banks and brokeragesa that caused such a mess are STILL employed and making millions while laying off THOUSANDS of people that actually do work. If you know anyone in banking that's still employed, odds are they are doing the work of three people so the top execs can show 'savings' and contineu collecting mega-incomes.

good articles: href=".http://www.bit.ly/12NCJR>recommended reading

[redkittyred]

01:44 AM on 06/22/2009

enough with the sour grapes comments.

It's not like she doesn't do already give to charities. Let the woman treat her staff. Sounds like these people work hard to make her a success so she can continue doing what Oprah does. And if I had that amount of money, I'd want to do the same for the people who are around me every day.

[DFL]

09:35 PM on 06/21/2009

The rightwing conservatives cant stand seeing "regular" people enjoy the good life!

[plzchuteme]

09:05 PM on 06/21/2009

Oprah may not be my cup of tea, but there is no denying her success, her huge and rabid fan base, her good works and charitable contributions and her power in our society, but she is not the best boss ever. Many years ago, I worked for the best boss ever. He never gave me a Mediterranean cruise, but he gave me things of much greater value that I carry to this day.

[pissedmichael]

07:06 PM on 06/21/2009

Let's go ahead and 'take away from Oprah.' Aside from being a tireless self promoter, a supremely mediocre interviewer, her program as more commercials than any other show. When Oprah says 'We'll be right back' she means 5 to ten minutes later. Of course she can afford to 'treat' her staff to a vacation like this. I'm sorry, but I just don't believe the sincerity of this woman. She makes really bad decisions at times, and yet she still dominates daytime TV. How many times has she gushed over guests promoting a new movie or book which later turn out to be even more mediocre than her show. Plus, she and Ellen Degeneres tend to 'buy' their audience. As if they need to be sure of the viewers adulation. The whole thing just strikes me as phony and indicative of Hollywood's tendency toward self-congratulation. She is a mediocre interviewer because she tends to talk over her guests. Has anyone else noticed how often she will repeat herself? It always looks to me as if she felt the audience didn't respond warmly enough to something she said so she will repeat it until she hears the 'appropriate' amount of applause and acknowledgment. I can't watch her any more--it's just too embarrassing.

[brooklyncitizen]

08:27 PM on 06/21/2009

just another white dude ranting huh?

[toocoldout]

08:28 PM on 06/21/2009

Supremely mediocre is a contradiction. You would know that if you weren't so mediocre. She's an excellent interviewer when she's interested in the topic, but on a lot of shows she's just going through the motions. But no other broadcaster in the history of media is as well rounded as Oprah. She can make you laugh, can make you cry, can make you think, can inspire, energize, and mobilize her audience like no one else. The greatest moments in TV history all occured on her show like the time she was surprised on air by Marry Tyler Moore or the time she reunited with her 4th grade teacher, Not a dry eye in the audience. Oprah just has a certain quality about her that no one else in media can match. You can't train it, you can't recruit it, she just has it.

[btrim]

05:38 PM on 06/22/2009

Well rounded for sure.

[NWGuy]

06:01 PM on 06/21/2009

Taking nothing away from Oprah and what she has been able to create and provide for her employees, but I would vote "best Boss" more towards the man or woman who has been busting their rear-ends to keep their business going during these economic times and keeping their employees working rather than taking the easy way and laying them off. Oprah's employees are lucky in that they work for a boss in a company with lots of money and resources. But the employee that works for a boss that goes out of their way, even to hurting financially, to keep them employed is luckier still.

[brooklyncitizen]

08:30 PM on 06/21/2009

this is illogical...you have no knowledge of what financial decisions she's made to keep her empire going; clearly it's not like she whittled away their retirement accounts in Maddoff funds like other celebrities did, or have massive layoffs like all industries are currently doing.

this vacation offer shows a level of commitment that is rare .

[katocat]

05:55 PM on 06/21/2009

You're OK with me Oprah.

[Servility]

05:41 PM on 06/21/2009

By all indications... Rich and owns a business. She should be a Republican.

[schatsie]

05:42 PM on 06/21/2009

Republicans give one week of vacation,

not 4 months so you can actually have a vacation, work on the house AND spend time with the children.....

[toocoldout]

06:43 PM on 06/21/2009

She should be a republican in that she pulled herself up by her boot straps, climbing from extreme poverty, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, drugs, obesity to become one of the richest and most influential people in the entire world in record time. But she's a democrat because deep down she knows that not everyone can pull themseleves up by their boot straps the way she so brilliantly did. She's a very VERY special person. This was evident by the time was 3 when she was already the best talker in town. She has a very rare combination of charisma, energy, integrity and sheer genius that just propelled her from the gutter to the top of the world in record time, raking in billions, revolutionizing the culture & electing the first black president. She's a one in billion human being.

[brooklyncitizen]

08:31 PM on 06/21/2009

True that.

[Brian Murphy]

09:15 PM on 06/21/2009

I'm not really sure what "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" means. Oprah is just an extremely lucky, extremely gifted person who achieved extreme success.

"Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" implies some kind of moral superiority and determinism, like the Puritan concept of "the elect" who were chosen by God. "Everyone else just didn't want it as bad," you might say. But this falls apart as soon as you realize that there are legions of people just as smart and capable as Oprah who did not achieve her level of success simply because they didn't get *lucky*. And conversely, there are all sorts of very successful people who are intelligent and come from a background of privilege, and whose success seems to be determined not by their moral superiority, but by their trust funds.

Now, I'll admit that for an average person, having the attitude that your hard work determines your success is a great attitude. But just like telling your kid they're the best in the world, it's a psychologically beneficial fiction. The attitude which seems prevalent among Republicans - disdain for everyone with less money and deification of everyone with more - is the internalization of this fiction: an extensive, narcissistic fantasy that harms the world around them.

[schatsie]

05:37 PM on 06/21/2009

This is just incredible, when other employers are cutting pay, cutting time, cutting benefits etc....What a contrast !!!

[schatsie]

05:28 PM on 06/21/2009

I would suggest that she check out the Quarantine Isles off the coast at Marseille, the WONDERFUL Pont Du Gard, and the Roman Arena and Temple at Nimes.... and if she wants to visit a hospital, my daughter in law's mother can get her in....After all, the FRENCH healthcare system provides 10 days for C-section mothers and our pathetic excuse provides 48 hours....

Then the Chagall Museum in Nice and the Cours Saleya (Sunshine Row)...And Aix is lovely specially Duex Garcon on the Cours Mirabeau and then there is the Columbe Dor in Vence where the original paintings are on the wall.....Picasso Dufy etc...But a real gem is the Chapel in Vallauris by Picasso (who I do despise as a misogynist) but the War and Peace theme is MAGNIFICent...

I did not see much at Monaco, although in that TAX HAVEN, my sister said she saw Bruce Willis driveing his Lamborgini,,,,he bought it with the taxes that he did not pay in the US, but what else can you expect from Repugs....

And breakfast in Cadolive where you goo into the park and watch see the sunrise over Marseille, one of the oldest cities of Europe....

Wish I was going along...Oh and she should buy LINGO for each person, so they can talk to the natives (natives sounds strange)

[DnDCfromChi-town]

04:59 PM on 06/21/2009

Question, where dol you posters work that you would disapprove of an employer for treating their employees and families to a vacation to the Mediterranean & Hawaii? I don't get it; for those of you who are saying they would not want to vacation with your co-workers, her staff receives 4 months off PAID during the summer months the SAME time Oprah gives herself....... Say what U want about her show however, as an employer Oprah rocks

[brooklyncitizen]

08:32 PM on 06/21/2009

It's called envy.

[GiannaX]

11:38 PM on 06/22/2009

It's amazing how many people have been bitten by the Green-Eyed monster. Bitter, sad, jaded bunch.

OPRAH IS MAGNIFICENT!

[Aabby]

02:52 PM on 06/22/2009

They are bitter, jealous and small. Oprah is amazing!

[nomorefed]

04:09 PM on 06/21/2009

Your house is worth $125,000 but you paid $250,000 don"t worry with "Mark-To-Market" Neutered you can say whatever you want to about your home value and no one can refute you!
Now when you go in for a loan, simply declare the house is worth $300,000 and along with your clean "ON-THE-BOOKS Balance Sheet" with no visible other debts means you get money from the FED at 1% interest or maybe less!
Why can"t this world be true for ALL AMERICANS like it is for Wall Street?
We do not own Congress and they DO using ill-gotten FUNDS!
Are the Wall Street Banks really healthy? With "OFF-THE-BOOKS" accounting and "MARK-TO-MARKET" Neutered who knows what the truth is!

good articles: href=".http://kl.am/tsc> recommended website

[JerseyGirl4Obama]

04:14 PM on 06/21/2009

What' this got to do with the cruise story?

[JDJase]

12:04 PM on 06/22/2009

SPAM