Blake & Mouton Managerial Grid

Background

Robert Blake and Jane Mouton were two American management theoreticians, who published the ”Managerial Grid” in 1964.

The Grid came into existence when Blake and Mouton were hired as consultants by Exxon. 

They wanted to give a more nuanced picture of the leader than what you get by using McGregor's X and Y theory. 

About the model

The leader is placed in “the managerial grid” and he considers only two dimensions

The leader's concern for production is placed on the X axis.

This is the degree to which a leader emphasizes concrete objectives, organizational efficiency and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task

The second dimension is concern for People – also sometimes called staff. It is placed on the Y axis

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

The two axles are both from one to nine.  Where one is low and nine is high.

We will use the two axles to plot leadership ‘concerns for production’ versus ‘concerns for people’, 

Blake and Mouton defined five leadership styles:

The five styles are located in 1.9, 9.1, 1.1, 5.5

And 9.9 – the 5 styles are discussed in the following

Leadership style 1.9 – low concern for Production and high concern for People

Style 1.9 is called Country club leadership. This style of leader is most concerned about the needs and feelings of members of his team.

These people operate under the assumption that as long as team members are happy and secure then they will work hard. 

What tends to result in a work environment that is very relaxed and fun but where production suffers due to lack of direction and control.

A typical statement from a “Country club” leader is "It should always be fun to go to work"

Leadership style 9.1 – high concern for Production and low concern for People - that is the reverse of the previous leadership style 1.9

Leadership style 9.1 is called Produce or Perish Leadership. 

Also known as Authoritarian or Compliance Leaders, 

Leaders in this category believe that employees are simply a means to an end.

Employee needs are always secondary to the need for efficient and productive workplaces. 

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.

A typical statement from a “Parish” leader is “do as you're told or you are fired“

Leadership style 1.1 – low concern for Production and low concern for People

Leadership style 1.1 is called Impoverished Leadership. This leader is mostly ineffective.

He has neither a high regard for creating systems for getting the job done, nor for creating a work environment that is satisfying and motivating. 

He doesn't care 

The result is a place of disorganization, dissatisfaction and disharmony.

The leadership type creates a very bad atmosphere among the staff – the staff does not get any feedback about their work or about themselves

A typical comment from the staff is "Is he our leader - I thought it was a guest appearance"

Leadership style 5.5 – medium concern for Production and medium concern for People

Leadership style 5.5 is called” Middle of the road leadership”.

This style seems to be a balance of the two competing concerns. It may at first appear to be an ideal compromise. 

Therein lies the problem. When you compromise, you necessarily give away a bit of each concern so that neither production nor people needs are fully met.

Leaders who use this style settle for average performance and often believe that this is the most anyone can expect. 

It all gets a bit stuck in the middle - not good, but not too bad. It's an OK place to work, and we produce an OK product, we belong in every way to the grey mass!

You must – as a leader - never accept this position. A leader in point 5.5 has to try to move towards 9.9

Leadership style 9.9 – high concern for Production and high concern for People

Leadership style 9.9 is called” Team leadership”. 

According to the model, this is the pinnacle of managerial style

These leaders stress production needs and the needs of the people equally highly.