Blake and Mouton Leadership Grid

Key Messages of The Blake & Mouton Article:

Leaders lay somewhere along the continuum of concern for productivity to concern for people
There is no 'one best way' of leadership
Different styles are needed for different situaitons

Blake and Mouton studied leadership behavior and described two extremes of leadership concern:

Concern for Production: The leader cares little about people and operates in fear of something going wrong. This person's focus is on achieving results and productivity.

Concern for People: This leader cares little about productivity and operates wholly from a desire to be loved and approved of.

The grid Blake and Mouton created from these two dimensions can help you to understand your predominant style on the scale of concern for productivity and concern for people.

The scales run from 1-9 with, nine meaning a high amount of concern Blake and Mouton Grid

If you would like to discover if you are a more task oriented or people oriented leader then take this Blake and Mouton questionnaire

Here's a snapshot of the five different leadership styles resulting from the grid:

(1,1) 'Impoverished' The leader exerts (and expects) minimal effort and has little concern for either staff satisfaction or work targets. This is a leader who is going through the motions is indifferent, non-committal, resigned and apathetic. S/he is doing just enough to keep their job

(1,9) 'Country Club' The leader is attentive to his/her people's needs and has developed satisfying relationships and work culture - but at the expense of achieving results. The leader is defined as agreeable, eager to help, non-confrontational, comforting and uncontroversial.

(5,5) 'Middle of the Road' (Politician)

This leader is a compromiser who wants to maintain the status quo and avoid any problems. Is aware of and wants a focus on productivity but not at the expense of the morale of his/her team.

(9,1) 'Authoritarian' The leader concentrates almost exclusively on achieving results. People are viewed as a commodity to be used to get the job done. Communication is de-emphasized and conflict is resolved by suppressing it. Leadership is controlling, demanding and over-powering.

(9,9) 'Team' The leader achieves high work performance through 'leading' his/her people to become dedicated to the organizational goals. There is a high degree of participation and teamwork, which satisfies the basic need of people to be involved and committed to their work. The leader may be characterised as open-minded, flexible and one who inspires involvement.

Cautionary note: The Blake and Mouton model could lead you to think there is one best style. Please avoid that mistake. Certain styles work extremely well in different circumstances. If your plane is crashing you'd want the captain to use a 9,1 style of leadership in that moment. At another time a different style of leadership may be more appropriate.

Assess Yourself! Take the Blake and Mouton questionnaire

Go to Effective Leadership Styles

Go to Articles Directory

From Management to Principle Based links

Command and Control links

Effective Leadership Styles links

Successful Delegation links

Leadership Lessons from Horses links

Still want more? Then use my Leadership and Motivation Training Swicki to search for more information about Blake and Mouton. Swickis are a highly targeted search engine that bring back terrific results on your search question

check out the Leadership and Motivation Training swicki at eurekster.com

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Technorati

Y! MyWeb

Subscribe to HARK!

In 10 fast minutes each month you'll access tips, ideas and resources that will speed up your success and create more fulfillment in your life!

Leadership Lessons from Horses

© Shelley Holmes. All Rights Reserved
You may use the content on this page with the following atttribution:
"This article is used by permission from the website of Shelley Holmes http://www.leadership-and-motivation-training.com"
Please click here to read our Privacy Policy and Disclaimer