What we can learn from Oprah Winfrey

When asked about her job, Oprah responded with the following: "My job isn't to be an interviewer, or to run my own talk show. My job to raise the level of consciousness and connect people to each other and to ideas, so that we can all live better lives."

Consciousness. The word is not prevalent nowadays, and is perhaps only used in urgent situations in which someone has lost his or her senses completely and become unconscious. Yet consciousness stems deeper than that. It relates to our longings, our passions, our purpose, and ultimately, what is most important to us: validation.

Beyond our narrow desire for money, fame, popularity, or anything else of this kind, is something much simpler. That is a desire to place ourselves in our environment in a meaningful way. For Oprah, this meant relating to her interviewees, from the Ku Klux Klan to Beyonce, on a personal level, discovering what lies at the core of each interviewee: validation.

Oprah has also given an example of her longing for validation. As a reporter, she discussed the possibility of receiving a raise from her employer. Upon realising that her employer was not 'on her level', incapable of understanding her position, needs, and emotions, Oprah decided to quit her job as a reporter. She could not fulfil her potential in a place where her abilities and principles were not understood, yet alone valued and respected.

This is an important point. Every person seeks validation. A child wants to be understood and appreciated by his or her parents. Investors want to be reassured that their capital is being utilised in such a way that yields profit. Ordinary citizens want to know that their government is making choices that help maintain trust, civil order, and prosperity in society. However, personal difference in terms of age, gender, nationality, and religious and political beliefs often serves as barriers.

It is imperative, then, to see beyond these differences, as Oprah does. Oprah did not decline the opportunity to interview members of the KKK because the organisation believes in white supremacy, a doctrine Oprah condemns. Nor did she refuse to interview rapists and paedophiles because of their harmful and inhuman actions. In every instance, Oprah sought to understand the other side for the greater good.

Almost everything we do involves people, and most of the time, the people we work and live with are very different from us. So how can we relate to such people? Perhaps the answer lies in Oprah's message to us. That we all share a common core of seeking validation, irrespective of our superficial differences. Let us focus on that core and try to see beyond the differences that lie on the outside, for doing so could radically transform our lives and that of others for the better.