Stephen, the vice president of a private bank, promotes a stress-free work environment. He is concerned about his employees' well-being. He is friendly and approachable and does not give much importance to performance as long the deadlines are met. Hence, the employees feel very comfortable at work. In the context of the Blake/Mouton leadership grid, which of the following leadership styles is Stephen using in this scenario?
A) The middle-of-the-road styleB) The country club styleC) The authority-compliance styleD) The impoverished style

Blake and Jane Mouton (1960s) proposed a graphic portrayal of leadership styles through a managerial grid (sometimes called leadership grid). The grid depicted two dimensions of leader behavior, concern for people (accommodating people’s needs and giving them priority) on y-axis and concern for production (keeping tight schedules) on x-axis, with each dimension ranging from low (1) to high (9), thus creating 81 different positions in which the leader’s style may fall.

Country Club: This is a collegial style characterized by low task and high people orientation where the leader gives thoughtful attention to the needs of people thus providing them with a friendly and comfortable environment. The leader feels that such a treatment with employees will lead to self-motivation and will find people working hard on their own. However, a low focus on tasks can hamper production and lead to questionable results.