Steven B. Sample
1 Pact With Knowledge!
Leading a group of academics can be like trying to herd cats. Given that - since Steven B. Sample succeeded as president of a major university - you would expect that he acquired some expertise on leadership, if only as a matter of survival. Sample borrows from an array of classical thinkers, from Shakespeare to Machiavelli to Lincoln, to advance his proposition that the most important attribute for any leader is the ability to think independently. He says that leadership demands suspending judgment, listening passionately to those with conflicting opinions and seeing all the shades of gray that exist between black and white alternatives. If his somewhat academic perspective doesn't always apply directly to the business world, it certainly supplies this book with intelligence and insight at every turn. We strongly recommend this guidebook to those who take these rare human attributes seriously.
2 A Personal Philosophy of Leadership
As the foreword to the book makes clear, Steven Sample has been immensely successful as a university president with a leadership style based on common sense, optimism and a personal philosophy of leadership. Readers looking for a dramatic, non-traditional idea of leadership will not find it here, despite the title promising a "contrarian" idea of leadership.
The first few chapters of Sample's book make clear that leadership comes from common-sensical values such as nurturing the growth of lieutenants and maintaining open communication lines with those lieutenants. For instance, Sample makes clear that undermining lietenants' authority or cutting off their communication to the leader spells sure death to the leader. This seems commensensical enough, and I doubt Sample is the first one to make this point.
What is "contrarian" is Sample's choice of inspiration: Machiavelli. Instead of responding to other "leadership" materials, Sample spins out a personal philosophy of leadership based on a selective reading of Machiavelli. Sample would like his readers to prioritize Machiavelli and other "supertexts" to the exclusion of pat, journalistic answers to leadership and management style. Fair enough. The exiled Florentine, Shakespeare and Plato make great teachers, and it's probably time that managers revisit them after being 20 years in the work force. These (Western) supertexts provide timeless lessons that are more digestable and practical than Sun Tzu et al.
While Sample's reading of Machiavelli puts a good spin on an unpalatable text, Sample makes the point that leadership is not for idealists. You've got to get your hands dirty, make unpopular decisions, and "give the devil his due." Sample's exhoratation to develop Machiavellian instincts is tempered by his equally strong argument for God (or conscience) in a leader's life.
Sample's philosophy of leadership is personal and "contrarian," but it is also exemplary. Highly recommend!
3 What it claims to be
Sample claims his view of leadership is contrary to prevailing notions, and he is right. He presents a unique perspective in many ways that challenges convention thinking. Even if you disagree, your own thinking will be developed through the process.
4 Disappointing and a waste of time
"For example, I feel that polygyny is morally wrong, but I recognize that a sizable fraction of the world's current population...would disagree with me. While my own views are strongly held, I would be disinclined to try to impose my aversion to polygyny on peoples for whom it is a time-honored and respected practice." At that point, I stopped reading this book further. If the author can't 'impose' his views on others regarding multiple marriages, I wondered if he would have ever imposed his views on the those leading Enron, Tyco or Worldcom if they had sought his counsel? Even up to this point in the book, I felt that the author's views were not applicable to the business world where we often don't have the luxury of time and distance that the author does in formulating his opinions. I'm also disappointed in Warren Bennis' advocacy for this book as I'm a big fan of Bennis' books and have read most of them. Now, I will have to be more careful about books Mr. Bennis recommends. There are far better leadership books in the market than this one. My copy is going straight in the trash.
5 A great book for toady's business leaders
This is one of the best books on leadership in recent days. The book is best suited for managers who need to make decisions that may impact an organization. It has a clear and easy to read format. Mr. Sample drew anecdotes from his own experience, and that makes the book more convincing. Ideas such as putting off those things that you can decide tomorrow are different and stimulating. There are chapters that are less directly related to the day-to-day business environment, but in general the book is definitely worth reading.
6 weLEAD Book Reivew from the Editor of leadingtoday.org
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.
7 3-Stars On The Gray Scale!
I thought at first that the contents of this new managerial guide would be enlightening and novel. But I was disappointed. Once again we see a guide, which does not address the fundamental qualities of a great leader: expert knowledge in what is being managed and not an annoying, wishy-washy "gray thinking" would-be leader.
A leader with knowledge has no difficulty judging the merits of a new idea and should be capable of making firm and fast decisions based on his/her own expertise as well as that of the experts reporting to him/her. If the leader cannot arrive at a decision on the merits of new ideas, then the leader has no right to call him/herself a leader. Such an individual is deficient in understanding of the field being managed...in other words, an ignoramus, who bluffs his/her way through business life and ends up being an opinionated, flip-flopping weasel. He or she may be sly enough to pretend they can make decisions worthy of a leader, but don't think for a moment that the other employees, who are the real experts, don't see right through the bluff and have zero respect for such a "gray thinking" leader!
Furthermore, to suggest that people "...see themselves as leaders..." breeds an egotistic attitude and is not worthy of great leadership. A true leader is one, who recognizes that he/she is just an employee like everyone else and is respected by his/her knowledgeable colleagues for his/her expertise in the field being managed and led. A leader should be seen as such by others, not put themself on a pedestal above every other fellow employee in the same "boat/company"!
Believe me, I have worked for many years in industry and have seen such "gray thinking" managers hemming and hawing and sweating under the glare of opposing facts because they did not know enough and never will about the subject matter to arrive at any decision for the good of the company and its shareholders. It is not a wise move to think "gray", but one grounded in ignorance and bluff. And everyone saw through our "gray" managers as the "play-acting manager-leaders" that they were. They earned no respect from anyone!
If you would really like to learn from the experts...I suggest a study of the frank perspectives of the people, who will make the ultimate decision on whether you merit the "good manager/leader" title. And I highly recommend the true-to-life episodes in the satirical-humorous book, "MANAGEMENT BY VICE" by the scientist/author C.B.DON as the best teaching tool. As you read it do keep in mind, that while this witty-sharp satire ridicules and honestly exposes many "vices" and follies of mis-management, in life we all most often also learn far more from our own and others' mistakes than from any "grayscale" guide on how not to arrive at any conslusions!
After all, there is such as thing as "Right and Wrong", "Good and Evil". There is also "Great Leadership and present-day Corporate Corruption" --- which is frequently based on selfishness, feeble indecisions and "grayscale" excuses for a whole lot of rotten management practices!
8 The long road to a balanced paradox
First, let me say this book captures some wonderful aspects of leadership. The book is written well and captures the authors thoughts and ideas succinctly. Ultimately though the content goes in circles and he ends up presenting something not that different from any of the other books on leadership. If one steps back and looks at the forest presented here, it is that in order to be an effective leader one need make good decisions, evaluate data carefully, think freely, posses both Machiavellian tendencies and play the role of servant leadership to one's followers, and one needs to communicate and listen well. OK, so we have heard all of that before, so what is different?
Well, one of the highlights is a section on what the author calls "supertexts". Great leaders ought to read the classics. Really. Forget newspapers and especially trade publications and read the story of Jesus in Matthew, the story of Paul in Acts, the story of Moses in Exodus, read Plato, Hamlet, Dante's Divine Comedy, etc., as understanding the human condition is far more valuable than the latest news articles or trade flash. This is a radical concept and a rare one coming from a leadership and business approach. It is summarized as "you are what you read". A novel and unique approach on what enables good leadership.
I also loved the sections on "knowing which hill you are willing to die on" and the "art of listening. Both provide an enlightened view of well-covered topics.
Overall, the book presents some great points but ultimately ends in the leadership paradox. Few can really articulate this well and fewer still can solve this paradox in practice. Books like this one often can derail effective leadership, which rely on a creative blend of all approaches depending upon the situation, by giving "sound bites" of information and directives which when taken out of context usually fail.
In the end it is a person's ability to successfully navigate the paradox of giving direction and empowering others, making quick decisions and waiting for more information, and driving others and serving others, which will determine their success as a leader. The book implies this paradox, but throughout focuses on the trees and not the forest.
9 Very illustrative
I love this book. It's concrete, has a lot of examples and make your eyes open to the real world.
Leadership is a good place to be, but you know it is a tough spot to be only when you have no escape. This book shows you the real work of being a Leader.
10 A new and fresh perspective on an old subject
This book intrigued me for a couple of reasons. First, here was a book written by a university president - and an extraordinary one at that - on a subject traditionally dominated by corporate executives, professors of business, and, no kidding, professional basketball coaches. And second, ever since my graduate school days I've been especially absorbed by unconventional strains of thought, and here's a book that drives a wedge into the most predictable of genres.
Steven Sample, who assumed the presidency of an already upwardly mobile university and made it that much better, does not disappoint. His chapter entitled "Work for Those Who Work for You" really hit home. I've always believed that managers and leaders should empower their people and set them up for success. This approach frequently requires that I perform some rather mundane tasks like making phone calls and sending out meeting requests. But according to Sample, that's what real leaders should be doing. "Virtually all leadership experts, whether they subscribe to traditional or au courant theories, depict leadership as a glamorous and majestic calling. But the contrarian isn't fooled. He knows that effective day-to-day leadership isn't so much about himself, as it is about the men and women he chooses to be his chief lieutenants. He knows that a lot of the things on his own plate will be minutiae and silliness, while his lieutenants will get to do the fun and important things."
This book is exceptionally Western; that is, there are numerous references to Machiavelli (including an entire chapter), Clausewitz, and Plato, for instance, but none to Confucius, Lao Tzu, or Sun Tzu. I was somewhat surprised by this if only because Sample, throughout his tenure as president of USC, has consistently reached out to the Pacific Rim. This is more of an observation and not necessarily a criticism; the breadth of Sample's knowledge of Western thought is pretty impressive - especially for an engineer by trade - and that know-how coupled with his extraordinary experience in academia and some interesting folksy anecdotes makes for a very readable and useful text. Read this book and carve out a permanent place for it in your office.
11 Break Free?
Perhaps I'm not familiar with what the back cover on the book calls "convensional leadership wisdom", but I found "the Contrarian's Guide to Leadership" to be highly convensional.
The principles outlined in this text are fundementally similar to leadership priciples I have studied for the last fifteen years in the military.
Overall, I had the impression that this book was closer to a series of career memoirs for Dr. Sample. Its simply not the academic standard I would expect from a university professor. I'm dissappointed and would not recommend anyone purchase this book. Beware of a catchy title!
Andrew McKenzie
Sultanate of Oman
12 I highly recommend this one!
As a leader, I found this book to be a great staff-development tool-- challenging enough to stimulate a good discussion and accessible enough that people actually read it. The author delivers on the promise of offering off-beat ideas and he makes you want to know more--more history, more philosophy, and to read more good (old) novels. I gave this to all my managers and found out that many of them bought it for friends for Christmas--the highest compliment.
13 A lazy sample of leadership lit.
Perhaps it is in the spirit of Sample's contrarian theme that this review was written. Not that there is anything particularly against the tide in this slender volume. Many readers would agree that here needs to be a lot more substance to yet another tome on "leadership" than :
* a catchy title
* name dropping
* 10 years at USC
* Machiavellimania
* folksy anecdotes
Sample's book has no real structure. His attempts to capture "Aspects of Human Nature " (p.103) show why engineers from his era could benefit from a Psych 101 course. A pretty bland read can be saved by cutting straight to the summary on pp.189-190. Lets hope the royalties paid for the renovations to the holiday house.
14 A talented leader tells all
Sample is one of the nation's most successful university presidents, and in this book he reveals his unique approach to leadership. We learn his methods of delegating while remaining firmly in charge, and how he encourages novel interpretations of situations and problems in order to open people's minds to creative solutions. His stories "from the trenches" are worth the price of the book.
15 Ain't no "classic"
I don't see what the fascination with this book is. It's not a horrible book, but it isn't as wonderful as some reviewers have said. I like some of the ideas in this volume -- the notion that many decisions don't have to be made instantaneously and that being highly informed of current events is overrated, for example.
However, I wasn't fond of a number of things. First of all, for a scholar, there are no footnotes and no bibliography. This is especially disappointing since Sample suggests that we should read more of the enduring books than the current ones (to be fair, he includes a brief list in one of the chapters). Besides, isn't following the example of a 400-year-old book NOT being contrarian and following the conventional wisdom? Second, there's too much generalization. I prefer concrete examples that I can sink my teeth into. Third, the text often doubles back on itself, leaving the reader with a zero net gain of knowledge. For example, the author recommends that decision-making be highly structured (i.e., decisions are made by the immediate superior) but that all levels of the organization interact. In a subsequent chapter, Sample suggests that a leader sometimes swoop in on his subordinates and make an unexpected decision to throw them off, a suggestion that reflects Machiavelli's advice.
Sample is no fool, but his book exemplifies something that he himself states -- how difficult it is to judge social science. His operating theories about leadership may be correct, but it takes more than just a book about his personal experiences in two universities to validate them.
16 Becoming a Heretic
I really liked Sample and Bennis's approach - it certainly encourages a different perspective. I'm very interested in writers who are trying to shake up some of the sacred cows of management. Management herecy I think it's called. Actually what a lot of it is, is taking the every day practice of management and thinking differently about it. Alongside this book on leadership I would recommend Smart Management:Using Politics in Organizations by David Butcher and Martin Clarke (pub. by MacMillan) on the subject of organisational politics. It had a similar effect on me.
17 The real reason I bought this book
The real reason I got this book is because a friend told me it had been endorsed by an unusual range of people -- Michael Eisner, David Gergen, Dianne Feinstein, Charlie Munger, George Shultz, Frank Rhodes and others. It's unusual to see a book draw such positive attention from people from the vastly different worlds of business, politics and academia; but after reading this, I can see why.
18 A provocative management book
I thought this was one of the best leadership books I have read. Steven Sample acknowledges that leadership is highly situational and complex. But he also offers a number of principles to keep in mind as you walk the path. As I read the book, situations from my own work lept to mind and I found myself seeing things from a different perspective. I was so engaged, I finished the book in a day.
19 Great new perspective on leadership
Having heard about the now-legendary USC leadership class that Steve Sample and Warren Bennis co-teach, I rushed to get my hands on a copy of this book. I saw that Bennis wrote in the foreword that this book "has the look of a classic," and I'm inclined to agree.
This is written by an unusually gifted practitioner who's able to distill his experience into some very colorful and startling lessons. I'll admit that some of those lessons were a bit jarring at first -- but they've forced me to reconsider my simpler assumptions and to find new ways of thinking about problems. This is exactly the kind of book you'd want to be reading in these topsy-turvy times.
20 I loved this book!
What is remarkable about this book is that it stretches and challenges the reader on every page. I found myself saying, "I didn't know that! I don't agree with that! or That's my experience too!" Sample weaves practical advice in with real-life leadership situations and grounds it all in history, literature and philosophy. He writes well. This never feels like homework. But when you finish the book you feel like you have learned and grown. I am getting copies of this book for all my friends.
21 A truly amazing guide for anyone in a leadership role
This book is a fantastic guide for anyone involved in a leadership role through any organization. It is very well written, goes straight to the point and provides concrete examples of the principles that Sample teaches in his classes. The book is very easy to relate to and, I feel, is one of the finest leadership "guides" available. It's a must read for anyone interested in the subject.
