Leadership Style

Week 5 Article Summary

How to Choose A Leadership Style

Robert Blake and Jane Mouton

1982

Abstract

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership theory indicates the 4 leadership styles of telling, selling, participating and delegating are defined by either task behavior or relationship behavior and the ability and willingness level of the followers. Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid indicates the 2 leadership behaviors of task-oriented and relationship-oriented combine to make 4 different styles of leadership, of which only the high task and high relationship style is “ideal” for a successful leader, or “one best style”.

Major topics of Article

-How you lead depends on the situation vs. there is 1 best style involving leadership principles

-Teach the managers to change their behavior to fit the situation vs. change the situation by bringing them in line with leadership principles

-Top situational variable is the maturity of subordinates - the willingness or motivation and ability or competence to perform an assigned activity

-Blake Mouton Managerial Grid uses task direction or production and socio-emotional support or relationship as 2 distinct and independent behaviors

-high socio-emotional support is seen as high concern for people, considering the needs of members

-high task direction is seen as high concern for production, emphasizing objective, goals, efficiency and productivity

-high concern for production and high concern for people is seen as focusing on the task through teamwork with “openness, respect, involvement, resolving conflict through confrontation in the interest of achieving shared agreement and commitment to productive outcomes”

-low concern for production and high concern for people is seen as warm and friendly leadership and the leader yielding his own beliefs for “the sake of harmony, even in disregard of adverse impact on results and without use of critique or feedback.”

-high direction and high reward for compliance...