The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership

by Steven B. Sample

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787967079
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	04/18/2003
Series:	J-B Warren Bennis Series , #14
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	8.76(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.61(d)

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.

Table of Contents

Foreword, Warren Bennis.

Acknowledgments.

About the Author.

Introduction.

1. Thinking Gray, and Free.

2. Artful Listening.

3. Experts: Saviors and Charlatans.

4. You Are What You Read.

5. Decisions, Decisions.

6. Give the Devil His Due.

7. Know Which Hill You're Willing to Die On.

8. Work for Those Who Work for You.

9. Follow the Leader.

10. Being President Versus Doing President.

11. The University of Southern California: A Case Study in Contrarian Leadership.

Conclusion.