The Leadership Grid: A Brutally Honest Look at Your Leadership Team
Why being “nice” or “efficient” isn’t enough
In this issue:
Part 1: Understanding the Leadership Grid
What is the Leadership Grid?
The 5 Types of Leadership Behaviors
Part 2: Applying the Leadership Grid
The MAP Framework
The Leadership Grid Worksheet
Part 3: Going from here
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Recommended Resources
Final Takeaway
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A few years ago, I had two managers on my team:
The first one, let’s call him Peter, was a great task master and “got stuff done”. No matter how complex the task, or how close the deadline, he would get his team to deliver on time, every time. The only problem was that people tended to “avoid” working with him. I remember watching one of his 1-on-1s from the hallway. It looked like a performance review mixed with a dentist appointment. So, while he was delivering results, he was doing it ‘by force’, and the energy around him was negative.
The other manager, let’s call her Rachele, was a “people magnet”. She was supportive, empathetic, and endlessly available. Her team just loved hanging out with her, her 1-on-1s would extend beyond the time, and she was surrounded by people wherever she went. The only problem was that her team wasn’t delivering consistently. Deadlines were slipping and quality was dropping, and yet she was so absorbed in her positive vibes that she didn’t seem to notice.
Let’s be clear: neither Peter nor Rachele was a ‘bad’ manager. They were just focused too heavily on one side of leadership, and neglected the other. Peter was too focused on results and neglected the people, while Rachele was overly invested in the people and neglected the results.
Great managers are masters at balancing people and results.
In this article, we will discuss the Leadership Grid, a simple framework that will help you take a brutally honest look at your leadership team, your own leadership style, and where you need to adjust.
Ready to dive in? Let’s go!
Part 1: Understanding the Leadership Grid
In this section, we’ll explore what the Leadership Grid is and how it helps you make sense of your own leadership habits.
What is the Leadership Grid?
The Leadership Grid was developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in the early 1960s. It’s one of those frameworks that isn’t flashy, but it hits hard because it’s so practical.
Blake and Mouton believed every leader operates with two dominant concerns:
Concern for People
Concern for Results
Plot these two concerns on a two-dimensional grid, which serves as a map of leadership styles. Depending on where you land, you fall into one of five types:
Impoverished Leader: Low on both people and results
Country Club Leader: High on people, low on results
Produce or Perish Leader: High on results, low on people
Middle-of-the-Road Leader: Moderate on both
Team Leader: High on both people and results
The magic of this framework is that it doesn’t try to categorize your personality. It looks at your behavior: how you actually lead, especially under pressure.
It shows you what you reward, what you tolerate, and what you ignore.
The 5 Types of Leadership Behaviors
Once you understand the two core concerns (people and results), the next question is: what happens when a leader leans too far in one direction, or not enough in either?
The Leadership Grid gives us five common leadership behaviors. Think of them as styles that show up in real life: in meetings, 1-on-1s, feedback, and team morale. None of them is fixed. But each has its own pattern.
Let’s look at each one.
1. The Impoverished Leader
Low concern for people. Low concern for results.
This leader has checked out. You’ll find them avoiding tough conversations, missing deadlines, and letting the team run on autopilot. They aren’t trying to lead, they’re just trying to get through the day.
What it feels like: Confusion, low energy, no direction.
What to watch for: Missed follow-ups, vague goals, disengaged team.
2. The Country Club Leader
High concern for people. Low concern for results.
This leader wants everyone to be happy (just like Rachele on my team). They avoid conflict, over-accommodate, and rarely hold people accountable. The vibe is great, until deadlines get missed and quality slips.
What it feels like: Supportive, but unstructured.
What to watch for: Projects drifting, feedback avoided, expectations unclear.
3. The Produce or Perish Leader
High concern for results. Low concern for people.
This is Peter from my team. They are the classic taskmasters: they drive hard toward goals, but ignore the toll it takes on people. Burnout is common, and so is fear. Things get done, but at a (heavy) cost.
What it feels like: Pressure, control, and fear of failure.
What to watch for: High turnover, low trust, and morale issues.
4. The Middle-of-the-Road Leader
Moderate concern for both people and results.
This leader tries to keep things balanced. But in trying to please everyone, they rarely push for excellence. The team stays stable, but never excels.
What it feels like: Predictable and comfortable, but uninspired.
What to watch for: Flat performance, low ambition, limited innovation.
5. The Team Leader
High concern for people. High concern for results.
This is the ideal behavior you’re looking for. The leader builds trust and delivers outcomes. They set clear goals, give honest feedback, and lift the team. They don’t choose between kindness and performance: they commit to both.
What it feels like: Clear expectations, strong relationships, high standards.
What to watch for: Consistent delivery, engaged teams, peer respect.
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Part 2: Applying the Leadership Grid
In this section, you will learn how to apply the Leadership Grid in your role as a leader.
We will learn about the MAP Framework, which you can use to apply the leadership grid to your management team in three simple steps.
Then, we’ll make it practical with a downloadable Leadership Grid Worksheet to help you practice this method for real in your own leadership team.