Leadership notes
Ohio State Leadership Studies
Ohio State Leadership Studies is Behavioral Leadership Theory. Ohio State University did a
series of studies on leadership in 1945 to identify observable behaviors of leaders instead of
focusing on their traits.
Ohio State Leadership Studies states leaders exhibit two types of behaviors, Initiating Structure
and Consideration in managing employees to achieve goals.
They found two critical leadership characteristics, either high or low or independent of one
another.
The research was based on questionnaires to leaders and subordinates of the organizations.
These are known as the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LDBQ) and the
Supervisor Behavior Description Questionnaire (SBDQ).
Ultimately, Ohio state leadership studies narrowed the description of leader behavior into two
dimensions; initiating structure behavior and consideration behavior. A leader can display both
behaviors in different amounts at the same time.
• Initiating Structure
Initiating Structure is a category of leadership behaviors aimed at creating clarity and structure
for an organization. Some of the behaviors in the Initiating Structure category are:
1. Setting clear expectations
2. Providing constructive criticism enabling improvement
3. Setting standards of performance and production
4. Creation and maintenance of processes, policies, and procedures
5. Setting job descriptions and establishing the division of labor
6. Systematic coordination of work
7. Emphasis on meeting milestones and performance targets
8. Monitoring and controlling operations and performance
9. A high level of Initiating-Structure behavior means a high definition of roles, tasks,
expectations, schedules, etc., which leaves few uncertainties for the employees, bearing
a resemblance to Scientific Management by Taylor.
High levels of Initiating Structure behavior also mean the leader makes all decisions, punishes
sub-par performance among followers, and underlines the importance of results. In other
leadership models, initiating structure has other names, but you can read more about the
concept us such right here: Task-oriented leadership.
• Consideration Behavior
Consideration behavior is a category of leadership behaviors focusing on relationships and the
welfare of people. Here are a few examples of consideration behaviors:
1. Listening to team members and other stakeholders
2. Treating people well and seeing them as equals
3. Providing support to team members
4. Being generally supportive, friendly, and available
5. Emphasizing the welfare of the team members
6. Building trust and a good team climate
7. Display of empathy and a genuine wish to understand the capabilities of each team
member
8. The level of Consideration behaviors set the leader's level of empathy and focus on
people.
High consideration behavior signifies a strive for trust, interest in the followers’ feelings,
and a willingness to create warm relationships within the team. A leader with high
consideration behavior uses active listening, understands the strengths and weaknesses of
each team member, and supports them as required. Consideration behavior can be
compared with democratic leadership combined with coaching and affiliative leadership.
Ohio State Leadership Grid
The Ohio State Leadership Studies also showed that initiating structure and consideration are
two distinct dimensions and not mutually exclusive. A low score on one does not require a high
score.
Hence, leadership behavior can be plotted on two separate axes rather than on a single
continuum, as shown in the following diagram;
The 4 quadrants in the above figure show various initiating structures and consideration
considerations. In each quadrant, there is a relative mixture of initiating structure and
consideration, and a manager can adopt any one style.
The findings of Ohio State Leadership Studies suggest that effective leaders possess a strong
ability to work with others and build a cohesive team balanced with the capability to create a
structure within which activities can be accomplished.
What is Michigan Leadership Studies?
The Michigan Leadership Studies is a behavioral theory of leadership that was studied at the
University of Michigan in the 1950s. The study was led by the American Social Psychologist,
Rensis Likert, who conducted a series of research programs with a group of researchers to find
out the leader’s behavior.
The main objective of the study was to find out the principles and types of leadership styles
that lead to greater productivity and enhanced job satisfaction among workers. They described
leadership behaviors in two dimensions – employee or relationship-oriented and production or
task-oriented.
• Employee-Oriented
Leaders with an employee-oriented focus on interpersonal relationships and accept the
individual differences in the groups. Such leaders care about the needs of followers or
subordinates to satisfy them the most.
The behavior of employee-oriented leaders:
1. They establish good human relations with the follower employees.
2. They are concerned for the rights and welfare of subordinates.
3. They pay due to concern for motivating employees to achieve organizational goals.
Employee-oriented leaders believe the ultimate and best way to get work done and achieve the
desired company’s goal is through commitment and satisfaction of employees. They consider
the employee’s strengths and weaknesses and expect the related tasks to do by them.
• Production-Oriented
Production-oriented leaders emphasize the technical and task aspects of the job. Such leaders
care about output rather than employee satisfaction.
The behavior production oriented leaders:
1. They focus on technical aspects i.e. know-how and procedures of the job.
2. They focus on supervising for standard output of the job to be done.
3. They make production output the performance standard.
4. They follow negative motivation tools to motivate employees.
5. Such production-oriented leaders view employees as the means to get the job done, they
do not concern about the feelings and motivation of employees. As such, such leaders
fail to increase employee job satisfaction in the organization.
In Conclusion, it can be concluded that employee-oriented leaders can result in high group
productivity and higher job satisfaction, whereas, production-oriented leaders in low
productivity and low job satisfaction.
What Is Managerial Grid Theory?
The Managerial Grid Model emerged during a prominent time in leadership studies. Developed
in the 1960s, it was proposed by Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton, two management
theoreticians. The model was a product of their research findings at Exxon (a large
multinational oil and gas company), where they worked to improve leader effectiveness.
Blake and Mouton went ahead to establish a ‘Managerial Grid’ in their book, The Managerial
Grid: The Key to Leadership Excellence (1964). The grid depicts two behavioral dimensions
of leadership:
• Concern For People (Vertical Axis)
The degree to which a manager or a leader considers the needs of team members, their
interests and personal areas of development when deciding how best to complete a task.
• Concern For Production/Results (Horizontal Axis)
The degree to which a manager or a leader prioritizes organizational efficiency, long-term
objectives and high levels of productivity when deciding how best to complete a task.
In a nutshell, the Managerial Grid Theory of Leadership is a framework that helps you
determine what leadership style you should pick. It solves a common dilemma faced by many
managers, ‘should I focus on tasks or on people?’. If you have a project to manage, the grid
helps you pick between task-oriented and/or people-oriented approaches.
Managerial Grid Leadership Styles
The Blake-Bouton Managerial Model identified five leadership styles from various
combinations of the two dimensions of leadership behavior.
1. Impoverished (1,1)
Leaders with this approach have minimal concern for people and production, putting in
very little effort to get work done. Blake and Mouton stated that this leadership style
was the least effective of all. Low employee satisfaction and business growth make it
impossible for such leaders to flourish.
2. Task (9,1)
Leaders with high concern for production but low concern for people are task leaders.
Their primary focus is on performance, which is why they plan and control the
production environment. In order to successfully achieve business objectives,
everyone’s required to perform tasks as per rules, deadlines and procedures. However,
paying less attention to employees can lead to an unhappy work environment, further
leading to low retention rates.
3. Country Club (1,9)
Opposite of Task Leadership, the Country Club Style is characterized by a low concern
for production and high concern for people. Such leaders intend to create a cordial and
comfortable working environment that increases job satisfaction. People get motivated
to work harder because their well-being is prioritized. However, paying less attention
to business goals can lead to unsatisfactory outcomes.
4. Middle Of The Road (5,5)
As the title suggests, this leadership style places equal importance on organizational
goals and personal needs. Leaders focus on performance by balancing work
requirements and employee morale. However, neither production nor people’s needs
are fully met.
5. Team Leadership (9,9)
This leadership style is characterized by a high concern for both people and production
and is regarded as the most effective leadership style. It creates a highly encouraging
workplace culture, where people are motivated, productive and cooperative. They want
to champion business goals that are created by the leader.
