Leadership Styles – Part II

In part of Leadership Style in my earlier post, I talked of three basic and most referred to leadership styles. But those three styles are too restrictive as human beings are very vibrant and cannot restrict these three rigid style only. Therefore by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in the early the 1960s came up with their famous “Managerial Grid” or Leadership Grid, which is more dynamic, elaborative and suites various moods, conditions and business environment.

Here it may again be stressed that like earlier three styles, these styles are also not static or restrictive. One can adopt as many number of styles to suit a given situation at different times within a same process or can even combine two or more simultaneously.

The model plots task on one axis and people on the other and then draws a relationship of a leader with the two as we shall see now. Before going over the model, following may be understood for better comprehension of the grid system:-

• Concern for People - This is the degree to which a leader considers the needs of team members, their interests, and areas of personal development when deciding how best to accomplish a task
• Concern for Production - This is the degree to which a leader emphasizes concrete objectives, organizational efficiency and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task.

Based on the two concerns, Blake and Mouton slide either or both on the axis to find a suitable style for a leader. And have come up with the Five following styles:-

Country Club Leadership (High People - Low Production). In this style, the leader is more concerned about the needs and feelings of his team, rather than the production. Although making one’s team happy and satisfied should be the leader’s concern, but this generally has its adverse effects on the targeted goals and the reduction which would either be not met or with little success.

Produce or Perish Leadership (High Production - Low People). This model can be related with the Authoritarian or Compliance type of Leaders. And as the name suggests, the prime target is the production and the goals, which must be met at all costs. And quite obviously, ruthlessness would have no room for the welfare of the workers. This type of leader is very autocratic, has strict work rules, policies, and procedures, and views punishment as the most effective means to motivate employees. 

Impoverished Leadership (Low Production - Low People). This is the case of inefficient leaders who are not concerned either with the production nor the needs of the workers. And such “leaders” soon perish and leaders with more dynamic personalities and style replace them. 

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Middle-of-the-Road Leadership (Medium Production - Medium People). These are the people who tend to balance out both concerns, i.e. of the employees and the employer. Leaders who use this style settle for average performance and often believe that this is the most anyone can expect. 

Team Leadership (High Production - High People). This is the most likeable model, both for the workers as well as the employers. These leaders stress production needs and the needs of the people equally highly. The premise here is that employees are involved in understanding organizational purpose and determining production needs. When employees are committed to, and have a stake in the organization's success, their needs and production needs coincide. This creates a team environment based on trust and respect, which leads to high satisfaction and motivation and, as a result, high production. 

And as said before, like all other styles and theories, the managerial Grid also does not entirely address the complexity of finding, selecting and adopting a particular leadership style. However, it does provide a tool to critically analyze one’s performance and thereby improve one’s leadership skills.

But the theories and styles do not end here – the research moves on to find more dynamic styles that would ensure more productivity and also address the concerns of the team mates / workers.

Related Reading:

The Leadership Grid

Leadership Styles Part I

Posted in: Leadership, Styles