Steven B. Sample's contrarian approach to leadership and organizational effectiveness

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)

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.

How many times has the leadership and employees of an organization refused to consider a new method because "that is not the way we do things around here"? This viewpoint however must be set aside because with the new technology and know-how in today's organization had the view as previously stated held firm many of the modern efficiencies realized by the organization in today's world would be unrealized and thereto would be the failure of organizations to move forward in becoming more productive, more environmentally friendly, more gender-equitable in employment practices. The refusal of the leadership in an organization to consider change and view the possibilities that are outside of the realm of tradition cannot bode well for the organization and its survival, sustainability and ultimately profitability. Sample's common-sense 'gut' instinct non-traditional view of leadership is one that fills in the blanks for many leaders in today's organizations who have been bound traditionally to unworkable models of leadership in the organization.