Blake and Mouton's Leadership Model (Managerial Grid) - Explained
What is the Managerial Grid?
Written by Jason Gordon
Updated at September 3rd, 2023
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What is Blake and Mouton's Leadership Model?
The managerial grid, also known as the management grid, was proposed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, and is a behavioral leadership model. Pursuant to this model, a leader's style can be identified based upon her concern for the following factors:
- People - How committed are subordinates to goal achievement. Does the worker show high self-esteem? Are subordinates satisfied with interpersonal relationships?
- Productivity - The leaders perception of the quality of policies and procedures in place. How creative is the research? How effective is the staff? What is the work efficiency and value of the output?
Concern for production is represented on a one to nine scale on the horizontal axis (x-axis). Concern for people is represented on a one to nine scale on the vertical axis (y-axis).
Note:Blake and Mouton state that there is also a third axis: Motivation - measured from negative (driven by fear) to positive (driven by desire).
According to them, the leadership styles can be identified on the basis of the managers concern for people and production.
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What is the Managerial Grid?
Based on these two factors, the managerial grid identifies 5 leadership styles. Each style is characterized by its position on a scale of 1-9 for concern for people and concern for production:
- Country Club - This is characterized by High - Personal Needs, Low - Attention to Output. The objective is to have a friendly and comfortable work environment for subordinates. It depends on fostering self-motivation in the subordinate. Without a high level of personnel motivation, it can lead to lower performance results.
- Team Management - This is characterized by High - Personal Needs, High - Attention to Output. Subordinates are committed and motivated without leader intervention. The leader must trust the commitment of employees and empower them in decision making and autonomy. If done correctly, employees are motivated by the environment and positive relations. This style is based upon McGregors Theory Y of Leadership.
- Task - This is characterized by Low - Personal Needs, Hi - Attention to Output. The style is also known as dictatorial or perish style. Subordinates operate based upon specific directives from the leader. This can result is lower levels of morale and motivation among subordinates. It generally leads to higher productivity in the short run; but, long-run productivity may be lower based upon subordinate turnover.
- Impoverished - This is characterized by Low - Personal Needs, Low - Attention to Output. These individuals have a very low commitment to the organization or the people. Thus, they are only seen as leaders based upon their position and authority in the organization. It tends to lead to discontentment, lack of purpose, and low productivity.
- Middle of the Road - This is characterized by Mid - Personal Needs, Mid - Attention to Output. Leaders seek a balance between each focus. It generally leads to an average or moderate level of performance, as personal relationships and productivity are not maximized.
