The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership - Hardcover

Steven B. Sample; Warren Bennis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787955876 ISBN 13: 9780787955878

Publisher: Jossey Bass, 2001

Synopsis

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, but a style that unquestionably works, nevertheless. Sample urges leaders and aspiring leaders to focus on some key counterintuitive truths. He offers his own down–to–earth, homespun, and often provocative advice on some complex and thoughtful issues. And he provides many practical, if controversial, tactics for successful leadership, suggesting, among other things, that leaders should sometimes compromise their principles, not read everything that comes across their desks, and always put off decisions.

About this title

About the Author

Steven B. Sample an electrical engineer, musician, outdoorsman, professor, and inventor–is the tenth president of the University of Southern California. Under Sample′s leadership USC has become a world–renowned in the fields of communication and multimedia technologies, has received national recognition for its innovative community partnerships, and has solidified its status as one of the nation′s leading research universities. USC was selected as College of the Year 2000 by TIME and the Princeton Review, was named a "hot school" by Newsweek/Kaplan Review, and has been widely acclaimed in recent years for the excellence of its highly selective undergraduate programs.

From the Back Cover

In this provocative new book, Steven Sample, one of the nation′s most highly regarded university presidents, explodes many romanticized views of leadership and demonstrates how leaders can free themselves from the shackles of conventional wisdom.

• Never make a decision today that can reasonably be put off to tomorrow.
• Don′t form opinions if you don′t have to. Think gray.
• Shoot your own horse. Don′t force others to do your dirty work.
• The best leaders don′t keep up with the popular media and the trades.
• Machiavelli can help make you a more moral leader.
• Know what hill you are willing to die on–and keep its exact location to yourself.
• Know the all important difference between being leader and doing leader.
• You can′t copy your way to the top.

"This is an intoxicating read, a bushwacker′s delight. With swift, sure strokes, Steve Sample cuts down a lot of bad ideas about leadership and opens up a new path for the next generation to follow. No wonder he has turned around not one but two major universities."
––David Gergen, noted commentator, bestselling author, and adviser to four United States Presidents

From the Inside Flap

Are you the type of leader who finds it difficult to make quick assessments of people or ideas? Do you fail to read all the things that come across your desk? Do you frequently find yourself wondering whether conventional wisdom is just a bit too simplistic for the realities of our day?
Good, says Steven Sample, president of the University of Southern California. You′re already well on your way to becoming a contrarian leader –– one who sees situations from his own unique point of view and who finds genuinely new solutions to the challenges facing his organization.
Widely regarded as one of this generation′s most effective and innovative university presidents, Sample presents in this book profound leadership lessons that combine a masterful survey of history with rich insights from personal experience.
As management guru Warren Bennis notes in the foreword, "There are few originals left in American society today – men and women who speak with a unique voice and who can offer an unconventional perspective and bracing authenticity. Steve Sample is an undisputed original. Simply put, his is a voice that should be heard by all those who would aspire to lead thoughtfully and effectively in our own time."

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey Bass
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0787955876
• ISBN 13: 9780787955878
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224