Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid (also known as the Leadership Grid) is a model that evaluates leadership style based on two key behavioural dimensions:
- Concern for People – the degree to which a leader prioritises employee needs, wellbeing, and personal development.
- Concern for Production – the degree to which a leader focuses on achieving organisational tasks, goals, and results.
The grid plots these two concerns on a horizontal and vertical axis, each ranging from low (1) to high (9). By combining these scores, Blake and Mouton identified five core leadership styles, each representing a different balance between people orientation and task focus.
The Five Leadership Styles in the Managerial Grid
1. Impoverished Management (1,1)
Low concern for people • Low concern for production
This leader shows minimal interest in both employee welfare and organisational tasks. They avoid responsibility, make little effort to motivate staff, and contribute very little to performance improvement.
Outcome: Low productivity and low morale.
2. Country Club Management (1,9)
High concern for people • Low concern for production
Leaders prioritise harmony, comfort, and positive relationships above meeting deadlines or achieving results. They create a friendly working environment but may struggle with accountability and performance standards.
Outcome: Happy but inefficient teams.
3. Authority–Compliance (9,1)
High concern for production • Low concern for people
This style is task-focused, disciplined, and directive. Leaders emphasise control, efficiency, and results, often at the expense of employee satisfaction or engagement.
Outcome: High output in the short term, but risk of conflict, burnout and high turnover.
4. Middle-of-the-Road Management (5,5)
Moderate concern for people • Moderate concern for production
Leaders try to balance task completion with maintaining relationships, but the compromise can lead to average results. They avoid extremes, creating neither a highly motivated team nor exceptional performance.
Outcome: Adequate but uninspiring performance.
5. Team Management (9,9)
High concern for people • High concern for production
This is regarded as the ideal leadership style. Leaders believe that committed people achieve exceptional results. They build trust, encourage participation, promote empowerment, and maintain a strong focus on goals.
Outcome: High productivity, high morale, strong teamwork.
Why the Managerial Grid Matters
Blake and Mouton’s model shows that effective leadership is not simply about choosing between people or performance. Instead, the most successful leaders:
- Balance employee motivation with high standards
- Build collaborative teams
- Encourage accountability without micromanagement
- Foster both productivity and wellbeing
The grid is widely used in leadership training, performance development, and organisational behaviour studies. It helps managers assess their natural style, recognise weaknesses, and work toward more balanced—even transformational—leadership behaviours.
