I bet you can tell that I've been reading a lot of different leadership theories and models lately! I introduced the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model and the Blake Mouton Grid in two recent posts (see "Vroom Vroom" and "The Blake Mouton Grid"). I also mentioned another leadership model, developed by William James Reddin called the 3D Theory. Reddin expanded upon the Blake Mouton Grid (as well as other models) in his 1983 PhD thesis, Managerial Effectiveness and Style: Individual or Situation.
Reddin first developed a 2 dimensional model of leadership that is conceptually indistinct from the Blake Mouton Grid. First, he developed a 2x2 grid with task orientation on the x-axis and relationship orientation on the y-axis (essentially, concern for results versus concern for people, as in the Blake Mouton Grid). Based on where a leader falls on this grid (see the "standard" portion of the graphic below), Reddin developed four basic leadership types:
Related (High Relationship-orientation, Low Task-orientation): A "related" leader focuses on collaboration and team-based cooperation. They provide a lot of autonomy, rather than directing or dictating their teams. They are less hierarchical and less authoritative in their approach to leading teams. These leaders would fall into the Country Club Management quadrant of the Blake Mouton Grid.
Integrated (High Relationship-orientation, High Task-orientation): An "integrated" leader builds a strong team capable of high-performance by providing the right balance between autonomy and "deference to expertise" on the one hand, and accountability on the other. These leaders maximize the team's potential to perform at a high level. These leaders would fall into the Team Management quadrant of the Blake Mouton Grid.
Dedicated (High Task-orientation, Low Relationship-orientation): A "dedicated" leader focuses on producing excellent results and achieving the goals of the organization. While this is laudable, they often do so at the expense of developing the individuals on their team. They do not provide a lot of autonomy, and they use a more authoritative or autocratic approach. These leaders would fall into the Produce or Perish Management quadrant of the Blake Mouton Grid.
Separated (Low Task-orientation, Low Relationship-orientation): A "separated" leader focuses on correcting deviations from the norm. They develop standard policies and procedures to follow, but they do not necessarily enforce them, nor do they take an active role in directing or commanding their teams. These leaders would fall into the Impoverished Management quadrant of the Blake Mouton Grid.
What separates Reddin's 3D model from the Blake Mouton Grid is that he added a third dimension that he called "effectiveness", hence the 3D Model nomenclature. The 3D Model incorporates concepts from situational or contingent leadership theory He defined a leader's effectiveness as the appropriateness of their leadership style in any given situation (and argued that this should be the main focus of a leader's efforts to improve their leadership). As you can see in the graphic below, the upper right and lower left matrices has the same 2x2 grid (task orientation versus relationship orientation), but now the upper right matrix depicts an appropriate style of leadership for a particular situation, while the lower left matrix depicts and inappropriate style of leadership for a particular situation. As a result, we now have eight new leadership styles to explain. The appropriate styles are Developer, Executive, Benevolent Autocrat, and Bureaucrat, while the inappropriate styles are Missionary, Compromiser, Autocrat, and Deserter.
Developer (Appropriate, Related): The "Developer" leadership style focuses on developing relationships through collaboration and cooperation. Again, they provide a lot of autonomy, rather than directing or dictating their teams. They are less hierarchical and less authoritative in their approach to leading teams. In general, while they focus less on producing results (Low Task-orientation), because they apply this particular leadership style at the appropriate time, they are reasonably successful (i.e. effective) at achieving the goals of the organization.
Executive (Appropriate, Integrated): The "Executive" leadership style focuses on developing relationships and achieving results. They effectively adapt their leadership style to the specific needs of the situation at hand by building strong teams capable of high-performance by providing autonomy with the right level of accountability.
Benevolent Autocrat (Appropriate, Dedicated): The "Benevolent Autocrat" focuses on producing excellent results and achieving the goals of the organization. They do not provide a lot of autonomy, and they use a more authoritative or autocratic approach. However, because the specific situation demands this kind of approach, they are generally effective.
Bureaucrat (Appropriate, Separated): The "Bureaucrat" focuses on correcting deviations from the norm. They develop standard policies and procedures to follow, but they do not necessarily enforce them, nor do they take an active role in directing or commanding their teams. However, because their teams are relatively experienced and motivated to begin with, the teams are able to produce good results.
Missionary (Inappropriate, Related): The "Missionary" is basically an ineffective "Developer", because the needs of a specific situation require a different kind of approach. For example, the teams that they lead may be inexperienced or lack motivation such that they require a more authoritative leadership approach.
Compromiser (Inappropriate, Integrated): The "Compromiser" is an ineffective "Executive" who can't balance the needs of the team (relationship-orientation) with the need to produce results (task-orientation). Instead, they make compromises that often result in poor results or even poor team morale.
Autocrat (Inappropriate, Dedicated): The "Autocrat" is ineffective because they do not provide a lot of autonomy and utilize an authoritative approach when perhaps a more democratic approach is required.
Deserter (Inappropriate, Separated): The "Deserter" is disengaged to the point that the team becomes disengaged and unmotivated to produce the results that the organization requires.
Similar to the Blake Mouton Grid, Reddin's 3D model can be used as a self-assessment tool for leaders to improve how they lead and manage their teams. If a leader finds that he or she is not producing the kind of results that are required by the organization, he or she should modify their leadership approach to match the specific needs of the situation or context, thereby moving up the graph towards an appropriate style of leadership.
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