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Copyright 2002 ă weLEAD, Inc.
The
Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership
Jossey-Bass, Inc – 2002 (192
pages in hardback)
Author Steven B. Sample
ISBN 0-7879-5587-6
Steven Sample could be called a modern
Renaissance man. He is an author, professor, inventor, electrical engineer,
musician and the 10th president of the University of Southern
California. His book entitled The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership is
different and challenges many commonly accepted perceptions about leadership. A
contrarian leader is simply one who thinks and acts differently than
most. For example, the contrarian leader is one who thinks “gray” and “free”. Thinking gray means to withhold judgments and decisions until you
have heard all the relevant facts or until you are forced to do so.
Sample spends a fair amount of discussion on the three major pitfalls of binary
traditional thinking. He defines thinking “free” as the ability to first allow
your mind to contemplate truly outrageous ideas, and only later on, apply the
restraints of practicality, legality, cost, ethics and time upon your creative
ideas. This philosophy of thinking gray also affects the decision-making
elements of the contrarian leader. Sample makes two suggestions regarding
decisions. First, that a leader never makes a decision that can be reasonably
delegated to a lieutenant. Second, never make a decision today that can be
reasonably delayed until tomorrow.
However, the contrarian leader must have
other needs and qualities aside from thinking processes and decision-making.
These are also discussed in The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership. The
author discusses diverse subjects such as artful listening skills, open
communication, and the proper role between consultants, experts and the leader.
Sample suggests prodigious amount of selective reading, including “supertexts” for the contrarian leader. This includes an
extensive discussion on Machiavelli. He provides guidance on how to determine
which range of the daily news and printed media are really useful for the
contrarian leader. The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership
addresses the difference between
good leadership and effective leadership, including the need to
make tough moral decisions at the right time. Other discussions include hiring
the right people, diversity, connecting with followers and having a title of
leadership verses doing leadership.
This is a thought provoking and
alternative book on leadership from the perspective of someone who leads a
massive educational institution on a daily basis. You may not agree with every
concept or idea regarding a contrarian leader, but you will find this book to
offer some fresh perspectives.
weLEAD rating recommended
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