I first heard about this book in Bill Hybels "Courageous Leadership." Hybels requires all of his leaders in his church to first read this book. Surprisingly this book is not based on Christian leadership. The main idea behind the book is that Sample takes ideas that are commonly thought of as a leaders best practices and show why leaders should do just the opposite. (Contrarian definition: a person who opposes or rejects popular opinion) I had no idea what a contrarian was before reading this book, but learned alot of valuable ideals.
This book really challenged me to think outside the box. As the title says, the topics covered in this book usually go against what everyone holds as a leaders best practices. In each chapter I had to think about what was being covered and why it made sense to go against the popular belief besides what Sample was simply writing about. I did not want to just take him at his word, but challenged myself to see why his points either made sense, or did not at all. I highly recommend this book to stretch your mind in leadership practices. Very early on in the book Sample challenges the reader to make a hypothetical decision that no-one ever would want to have to make, but it sets the tone for the book for getting the reader out of their current mold and challenging why they think that way.
This book also has alot of practical applications and is not just all theory and thought. I tend to learn through example and find it easier to connect with a book that has practical implications rather than be just about theory. This book has a good mix and Sample makes sure to have practicality in all of his chapters and topics.
Some of my favorite quotes from the book:
"... the leader's role is to be sufficiently broad so as to be able to integrate the advice of several experts into a coherent course of action."
- Showed me that a leader does not have to be the know-all in all particular fields that they observe, that is what the experts are for. The leader just needs to have experts in specific areas that they trust and have the ability to gather all the information and formulate an appropriate plan.
"..., an effective leader must sell himself first and his vision or policies second."
- A leader must have followers, if not they are not a leader. If a leader does not first sell themselves and show others why they should follow, then the leader has no chance of getting people on board to follow their vision. So when being a leader you need to make sure those you lead trust you as a person before they trust your vision.
"If you leave a white post alone it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white you must be always painting it again." (Quote from G.K. Chesterton)
- A simple thought but can be applied to alot of places in life. As with leadership and inspiring others to a vision, eventually excitement will wane. Thus everything will take continued work. You are either improving or degrading, no staying the same.
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Top reviews from other countries
Kevin Watts
A great book for anyone wanting to learn how to be ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2014Vern A Elliott
Contrarian leadership...who knew?!
Reviewed in Canada on March 3, 2016