Winfrey, who is honored with the 2013 Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, gets teary after listening to a poem written by Maria Shriver for her.
- Dec 13, 2013
AceShowbiz - Oprah Winfrey was honored with the 2013 Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at The Hollywood Reporter's "Power 100" Women in Entertainment Breakfast and got teary as her longtime friend Maria Shriver read a touching poem she wrote for her. Presented by Lifetime, the event took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Wednesday, December 11.
Shriver read her poem titled "Becoming" as she introduced this year's award recipient. "It has been a long, steep climb, inside and out, but here you stand. Strong and vulnerable. Proud and humble. It has been a long road to becoming. Think back to when you weren't sure. To when you spoke to God and asked him to guide you. Becoming asks that you listen, not just to them, but to you," she read, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
"That beats a eulogy, I gotta tell you," dabbing her eyes, Winfrey jokingly commented on the poem and made the audience laugh. "You're still alive to hear it!"
Addressing the audience onstage, the media mogul said, "You've got to be powerful, and I mean powerful in its true definition. My favorite definition of power is 'strength over time.' You've got to know who you are and keep getting stronger by doing what all smart women do: we use our instincts. And I know that you did, time and time again."
She additionally urged audience members to reach out to others. "Joseph Campbell says that the privilege of a lifetime is to be who you are. What I know for sure is that getting to use who you are to elevate the higher good of everyone else ... that is the true purpose of leadership. How do you use your power to elevate the life of somebody else? That's what everyone in this room has been called to do. How you do it, that should be your life's greatest joy," she continued, adding, "We get to do what billions of women throughout the world don't get to do. We get to live our calling."
The Wednesday affair recognizes 100 most powerful women in entertainment industry. Winfrey joins previous Sherry Lansing Leadership Award honorees which include Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Jodie Foster, Halle Berry, Glenn Close and Barbara Walters.
