Contrarian's guide to leadership

CONTRARIAN'S GUIDE to LEADERSHIP

The objective of this work is to prepare a paper, which takes a supportive position on the applicability of the Contrarian's Guide to Leadership.

The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership was written by Steven B. Sample in October 2001 and was named the lead book of the fall season for John Wiley & Sons' Jossey-Bass Division." Samples defines a contrarian leader as a leader who views situations from a unique view and who discovers solutions that are valid in terms of their newness for challenges the organization faces.

MOST SUCCESSFUL LEADERS

According to Steven B. Sample (2002) the leaders who are the most effective are those who "eschew conventional thinking..." (Frost, 2002) Non-traditional methods are adopted by the best of leaders for expressing "natural creativity and intellectual independence." (Frost, 2002) This can only be accomplished if the leaders is willing "to buck some of the accepted truths about leadership." (Frost, 2002)

II. COUNTERINTUITIVE LESSONS

Counterintuitive lessons in Sample's work include the following:

Think gray: try not to form firm opinions about ideas or people unless and until you have to;

Think free: train yourself to move several steps beyond traditional brainstorming by considering really outrageous solutions and approaches;

Listen first, talk later; and when you listen, do so artfully;

Experts can be helpful, but they're no substitute for your own critical thinking and discernment;

Beware of pseudoscience masquerading as incontrovertible fact or unassailable wisdom; it typically will do nothing to serve your interests or those of the organization you are leading;

Dig for gold in the supertexts while your competition stays mired down in trade publications and other ephemera; you can depend on your lieutenants to give you any current news that really matters;

Never make a decision yourself that can reasonably be delegated to a lieutenant; and never make a decision today that can reasonably be put off until tomorrow;

Ignore sunk costs and yesterday's mistakes; the decisions you make as a leader can only affect the future, not the past;

Don't unnecessarily humiliate a defeated opponent;

Know which hill you're willing to die on, and realize that your choice may at some point require you to retreat from all the surrounding hills.

Work for those who work for you; recruit the best lieutenants available, and then spend most of your time and energy helping them to succeed.

Many people want to be leader, but few want to do leader; if you're not in the latter group you should stay away from the leader business altogether.

You as a leader can't really run your organization; rather you can only lead individual followers, who then collectively give motion and substance to the organization of which you are the head.

Don't delude yourself into thinking that people are intrinsically better or worse than they really are; instead, work to bring out the best in your followers (and yourself) while minimizing the worst.

You can't copy your way to excellence; rather, true excellence can only be achieved through original thinking and unconventional approaches. (Sample, 2002; as cited in: Robertson, 2008)

III. SUMMARY

Today's leader must necessarily be willing to abandon traditional when traditional methods are no longer effective. Failure to do so and attempting to maintain the 'status quo' in the face of organizational diversity demonstrates immobility within an organization and this reflects greatly on the leadership of the organization. Sample emphasizes that the leader should first and foremost 'listen' and then talk later on. Sample also emphasizes the fact that while experts are useful, the discernment of the individual in the role of leadership is to be valued just as highly as the opinion of experts. It is important according to sample for the leader to understand that they cannot actually run the entire organization on their own but instead they are able to lead individuals who are willing to follow and this when combined creates the drive and depth to the organization the leader is heading. Sample highlights the fact that originality and the wherewithal to attempt to defy convention when convention no longer works are characteristics of strong leadership in the organization.

IV. REASONS for SUPPORT of SAMPLE'S WORK

Steven B. Sample, in his work 'The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership' takes a fresh look at the methods that are most likely to result in effective leadership in today's organization and voices the opinion that traditional methods are not always the optimal method for the leadership in the organization to pursue. Sample is clear that leading does not necessary mean the mass following of the organization as a whole, but instead involves leading individuals whose effort and mindset combined results in the organization growing and moving forward.