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53rd out of 237 books
—
394 voters
The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership
In this offbeat approach to leadership, college president Steven B. Sample-the man who turned the University of Southern California into one of the most respected and highly rated universities in the country-challenges many conventional teachings on the subject. Here, Sample outlines an iconoclastic style of leadership that flies in the face of current leadership thought,...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
April 18th 2003
by Jossey-Bass
(first published 2001)
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This is a terrific book for wouldbe college presidents, executive pastors and general managers.
following are some of the memorable quotes from The Contrary ends Guide to Leadership:
"Leadership is highly situational and contingent; the leader who succeeds in one context at one point in time won't necessarily succeed in a different context at the same time, or in the same context as a different type."
"But leadership can be taught and learned. More explicitly, a person can develop her own potenti...more
following are some of the memorable quotes from The Contrary ends Guide to Leadership:
"Leadership is highly situational and contingent; the leader who succeeds in one context at one point in time won't necessarily succeed in a different context at the same time, or in the same context as a different type."
"But leadership can be taught and learned. More explicitly, a person can develop her own potenti...more
I do not read many so-called "leadership" books because I am one who believes that the kernels of leadership cannot be found in a book on leadership. That being said, Steven Sample's book offers a few tidbits of information that are helpful to anyone considering leadership positions; one of those kernels of wisdom is that leaders do not read leadership books!
Sample offers a straight-forward and well organized book that orbits around Machiavelli's "The Prince", a book often misunderstood and even...more
Sample offers a straight-forward and well organized book that orbits around Machiavelli's "The Prince", a book often misunderstood and even...more
This book did a great job of providing some thoughtful ideas that run contrary to accepted wisdom. I heard once, and of course instantly chose to believe, that philosophy grads have greater success at business than business undergrads. This is apparently due to philosophy's emphasis on critically thinking about what is true rather than be taught what is true. Philosophers therefore, are better able to effectively act and react to changes in the marketplace. The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership p...more
Rather than presenting a model or paradigm for leadership as does say, Tribal Leadership, Sample rather shares a series lessons, thoughts, and notions on Leadership. For instance never commit to a decision until you absolutely have to, work FOR your lieutenants, and probably my favorite is 'thinking grey' which means staying in the middle and not committing yourself to one side or the other of various issues. He also suggests reading what he call the "super texts" which are classics of literatur...more
This was a great book on leadership. I appreciate Sample's pulling together leadership studies from historical perspective and classical writings to the modern day realities and sensibilities. Steven Sample actually changed the way in which I approach reading years ago when I heard him speak in his emphasis that people should not shy away from what he refers to as the supertexts. These are the books and writings 500 years or older that have stood the test of time such as the Bible, the Qur'an, t...more
Aug 09, 2011
JJ Vancil
added it
"The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership" does exactly what the title implies: it provides leadership principles that generally fly in the face of conventional wisdom on the matter. Using many life experiences, stories & illustrations, the author paints a new and refreshing picture of what it means to be a leader. While written primarily for "higher-up" leaders, this book is applicable in all spheres. He emphasizes artful listening, working for those who work for you and even praises Niccoló Ma...more
As the author best states: "The purpose of the this book is to get you to think about leaders and leadership from a fresh and original point of view - from what I call a contrarian perspective...The Key is to break free, if only fleeting, from the bonds of conventional thinking so as to bring your natural creativity and intellectual independence to the fore." He further argues that: "One of the important and contrarian point we can make about leadership is that it is highly situational and conti...more
Most leadership books tend to provide lessons that aren't sustaining in the long-term. Usually, those lessons come from certain success stories that worked for that individual. Sample's book has the same blueprint as any other leadership book - lessons that worked for him. However, I believe his lessons hold more value because they aren't dependent upon an external event to earn legitimacy and are applicable to nearly all individuals.
Really a great read for leaders with a lot of thoughts that aren't in other leadership books. One of the ideas that I took away from this book was that good leaders wait until they have to make a decision to actually make the decision. I tend to want the pressure of the decision resolved and to get impatient. It was a little of a slow read, but good.
I enjoyed this one. Very down-to-Earth advice. As implied by the title, the contrarian leader would be found "contrary" by the traditionally-trained leader. With such advice as "If a decision can be made tomorrow, don't make it today" and "Work for those that work for you", the contrarian leader always considers the situation from the other person's shoes. Sometimes we get tunnel vision and forget that those we are leading are people too.
Despite its premise, this book shouldn't be a straight-ahe...more
Despite its premise, this book shouldn't be a straight-ahe...more
Some among us are natural leaders. Most of us must learn the subtle art of leadership. As someone that has studied leadership throughout much of his adult life, I found this book to be very useful. There is nothing earth-shattering here, no magical secrets are revealed. Mr. Sample has written an excellent book that will help those that are trying to improve their leadership abilities to examine their actions and decisions in a slightly different light. In addition, the book is written in a clear...more
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I'll admit, I'm a little biased because this book was written by one of USC's president emeritus, but I challenge you to read the last chapter and let the evidence speak for itself. Sample's emphasis on engineering outside-the-box solutions and leading with humility set this book apart from many other books on leadership that I have read. And Sample's life is testament to his principles: he is an engineer, a musician, an multiple patent-holding inventor, and a leader who guided a transformed a u...more
Sample presented a fresh look on typical leadership principles. I though especially the three chapters titled "Know Which Hill You're Willing to Die On", "Work for Those Who Work for You", and "Follow the Leader" were particularly excellent. Those chapters alone would be worth the price of the book.
Insightful read on what it takes to lead a university ... and how that carries over to more general leadership as well. I enjoyed reading about Sample's experiences and philosophies although I think I will have to pick this book up in another decade to really appreciate it.
I enjoyed reading this book and thought it provided a lot of useful tips and advice for leaders and would-be leaders alike. In general, the author argues that many times what seems like the appropriate thing thing to do may in fact not be productive. Instead, he argues to do something other thus being he contrarian. I have only read the book once and plan on reading it again to evaluate how "contrarian" it really is. Leaders in academia will especially enjoy the book for at least two reasons. Th...more
I know I'm being ridiculous, but I'm too annoyed about Sample getting all the facts wrong about the McDonald coffee case. For those individuals who are less inclined to judge an entire book based on one poorly researched incident, I'd say the first two chapters are excellent and the rest of the book was mediocre, with the occassional bright moment of insight.
I have read lots of books on leadership. Few of them offer new insights into leadership. This book is one of them! Each of the 10 chapters could stand on its own as an extended article for a leadership magazine. And all chapters are not created equal. I particularly liked "Thinking Gray, and Free," "You are what you read," and "Know which hill you're willing to die on."
Read by ACRL Member of the Week Scott Walter. Learn more about Scott on the ACRL Insider blog.
This is by far the best and most comprehensive read on the topic of leadership. It's for everyone from aspiring leaders to mid-level professionals to senior management folks.
Fairly good base-line leadership concepts. I do enjoy the historical excerpts that Sample uses for examples, but maybe you should just read Machiavelli instead.
outside the box leadership....uses machiavelli a lot. good read.
This book was really good. The chapter on the books we read and how to choose them was worth the whole book. Filled with practical stories about a leader who accomplished a lot. Cuts through a lot of the nonsense in typical leadership books with quotes like this,
"Leadership is highly situational and contingent; the leader who succeeds in one context at one point in time won't necessarily succeed in a different context at the same time, or in the same context as a different type."
"Leadership is highly situational and contingent; the leader who succeeds in one context at one point in time won't necessarily succeed in a different context at the same time, or in the same context as a different type."
This is a good book on leadership. It really makes you think and the author encourages the reader to question the principles and ideas set down in the book (which is refreshing). It gives a different take on leadership (at least in format) than John Maxwell usually takes. Also it includes a list of ten "super-texts" that the author believes every leader should read several times (at least one super-text a year), which is thought-provoking as well.
Steven Sample challenged the way I think about things in a stimulating way. The things I learned in this book are contrary to what I thought before. I realized I need to be a lot more creative and flexible than I have been. This book also made me want to be more judicious and discerning in my decision-making. I recommend this book to anyone who is in a leadership position or anyone who needs to make important decisions on a regular basis.
Jul 31, 2008
Nicole
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone wanting to improve their leadership skills
Out of all the books/journals I have read on leadership, this one seems to have the most practical and logical advice on how to be a better leader. President Sample writes a book that is easy to read and incredibly applicable. Not to mention the fact that he has managed to breathe new life into the greatest school ever (Fight On!).
After hearing from some colleagues that this is their favorite book on leadership, I had high hopes. But I'm disappointed to find the advice tired and self-evident.
Mostly common sense stuff. One of those "Good to Great" type books.
Aug 16, 2009
Joe
marked it as to-read
I keep hearing great things about this book and about Steven Sample's leadership at USC. I gotta read this book!
Really enjoyed this book and anyone who wants to be at an executive-level leadership position should read it.
Makes sense to me
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