In her 25 years on the air, Oprah Winfrey’s staggering success has become a virtual textbook for others hoping to capture even a fraction of what she’s accomplished. But how does she do it?

Author Warren Cassell thinks he knows.

"I have studied her and identified 40 habits that have put her on top. If we can follow them, we can be leaders in our respective fields. This explains how she has maintained her influence, and how we, too can be influential. The cumulative effect of these has produced a lady that is a force to be reckoned with," says Cassell, author of O Habits: 40 Success Habits of Oprah Winfrey and the One Bad Habit She Needs to Stop.

Cassell says that Winfrey’s largely female audience finds her such an example because they identify with her so much.

"Habit No. 21 is that Oprah is real. If she feels it, she’s gonna say it. If you watch Oprah: Behind the Scenes you see that she’s someone we can relate to. Prior to Oprah, television personalities were all about image. This is what Habit No. 24 (Oprah practices humility) is about. She’s out there. She didn’t get a nose job. She wanted to be herself. She’s one of the few who came on and talked about their flaws, and I believe that’s the one trait she has over every other talk show host. She’s like your next-door neighbor."

As relatable as she is, Cassell says that Winfrey’s one "bad" habit is that she’s so in tune with her female fans that she doesn’t focus enough on men, who could be benefiting greatly from the same information she gears toward the ladies.

"The school she’s started in Africa (will produce) girls who will become very ambitious and successful, who will end up marrying guys who are deadbeat. There’s no balance. When she started in the ’80s, there was still not equal opportunity, but now there’s more equality between the sexes."

Some of the other highly successful habits of Oprah, according to the book:

• Habit #2: Oprah is loyal
• Habit #3: Oprah gives
• Habit #5: Oprah lives out of the box
• Habit #6: Oprah prays
• Habit #7: Oprah laughs
• Habit #9: Oprah treats her staff well
• Habit #14: Oprah delegates
• Habit #18: Oprah knows the value of a good friend
• Habit #19: Oprah never misses a meeting
• Habit #21: Oprah is real