Team Management (9, 9): Characterized by high people and task focus, the style is based on the theory Y of McGregor and has been termed as most effective style according to Blake and Mouton.
However, a low focus on tasks can hamper production and lead to questionable results. The leader feels that such a treatment with employees will lead to self-motivation and will find people working hard on their own.
Country Club (1, 9): This is a collegial style characterized by low task and high people orientation where the leader gives thoughtful attention to the needs of people thus providing them with a friendly and comfortable environment.
Here neither employee nor production needs are fully met. The leader does not push the boundaries of achievement resulting in average performance for organization.
Middle-of-the-Road (5, 5): This is basically a compromising style wherein the leader tries to maintain a balance between goals of company and the needs of people.
Such a style can definitely increase the output of organization in short run but due to the strict policies and procedures, high labour turnover is inevitable. The leader believes that efficiency can result only through proper organization of work systems and through elimination of people wherever possible. The employees needs are not taken care of and they are simply a means to an end. The style is based on theory X of McGregor. Here leaders are more concerned about production and have less concern for people.
Task management (9, 1): Also called dictatorial or perish style.
The leaders are termed ineffective wherein their action is merely aimed at preserving job and seniority. The leader has low concern for employee satisfaction and work deadlines and as a result disharmony and disorganization prevail within the organization.
Impoverished Management (1, 1): Managers with this approach are low on both the dimensions and exercise minimum effort to get the work done from subordinates.
The five resulting leadership styles are as follows: The grid depicted two dimensions of leader behavior, concern for people (accommodating peoples needs and giving them priority) on y-axis and concern for production (keeping tight schedules) on x-axis, with each dimension ranging from low (1) to high (9), thus creating 81 different positions in which the leaders style may fall. Many of the leadership studies conducted in the 1950s at the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University focused on these two dimensions.īuilding on the work of the researchers at these Universities, Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (1960s) proposed a graphic portrayal of leadership styles through a managerial grid (sometimes called leadership grid). The treatment of task orientation and people orientation as two independent dimensions was a major step in leadership studies.