# Blake-Mouton Grid ## The Idea in Brief Leadership styles can be mapped on two axes: concern for people and concern for results. Where you sit on each determines your management style. The framework makes visible the trade-offs leaders make—and suggests that you don't have to choose between people and performance. --- ## The Two Axes **Concern for People.** How much you consider team members' needs, development, interests, and wellbeing when making decisions and assigning work. **Concern for Results.** How much you emphasise goals, deadlines, productivity, and outcomes. (Originally called "concern for production.") Both are scored 1-9. Your position on the grid defines your leadership style. --- ## The Five Styles **Impoverished Management (1,1).** Low concern for both people and results. Minimal effort to get work done. Avoids responsibility and conflict. The manager who's checked out—doing just enough to keep the job. **Produce or Perish (9,1).** High concern for results, low concern for people. Autocratic, demanding. People are means to an end. Gets short-term results but burns people out. High turnover, low morale. **Country Club (1,9).** High concern for people, low concern for results. Prioritises harmony and comfort over performance. Pleasant environment, but work suffers. Avoids difficult conversations. **Middle of the Road (5,5).** Moderate on both. Tries to balance needs but compromises on each. Delivers average results with acceptable morale. The mediocrity of trying to please everyone. **Team Management (9,9).** High concern for both people and results. The ideal: committed teams pursuing ambitious goals. People are developed and challenged. Results are achieved sustainably. --- ## Using the Grid **For self-assessment.** Where do you default? Most managers have a natural style they revert to under pressure. Knowing your tendency helps you compensate. **For diagnosing problems.** If results are poor, is it because you've swung too far toward Country Club? If turnover is high, have you become Produce or Perish? The grid gives language to the trade-off. **For development.** Moving toward Team Management means building capacity on both dimensions—not splitting the difference (Middle of the Road), but genuinely increasing both. --- ## Limitations The model assumes Team Management is always best. But context matters. In a genuine crisis, Produce or Perish may be appropriate temporarily. In a team recovering from burnout, Country Club might be the right medicine for a season. The grid also treats "concern" as unitary. You might care deeply about people but lack the skills to develop them. High concern doesn't automatically produce good outcomes. --- ## Sources - Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, *The Managerial Grid* (1964) - Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, *The New Managerial Grid* (1978) --- ## See Also - [[Mintzberg's Managerial Roles]] — What managers actually do day-to-day - [[Situational Leadership]] — Adjusting style to follower readiness - [[Requisite Organization]] — Jaques on managerial accountability structures