Leadership Analysis:
Vladimir Putin – President of the Russian Federation
Dawn M. Morris
Trine University
LDR 5003: Leadership Philosophy
Dr. Jeff Wiggerman
July 5, 2020
Abstract
Every country is subject to political and economical changes, but some of the most extreme have been those of what is now the Russian Federation. Throughout the past thirty years the Russian Federation has sought to redevelop and restructure itself as a friendlier and more prosperous nation that can be a competent rival of the more developed Western countries. To help achieve this task the Russian people have elected Vladimir Putin to the position of Russian President for nearly twenty years. While it has not been an easy task, Vladimir Putin has maintained flexibility in his leadership role to transition what was once the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics to the Russian Federation. Throughout this paper, a leadership analysis will be given on the current Russian President Vladimir Putin followed by how anyone can incorporate some of his leadership styles into the everyday workplace.
Rise to Power
Throughout the past century the world has seen many geopolitical and economical changes. Many of these changes stem from the World Wars that engulfed the planet. These wars forged new political parties, redrew borders, and caused massive political restructuring across the globe. Some of the newly made changes have held steady and improved through the century, while others have failed and disbanded. One country that failed and disbanded after polarizing themselves too far from the accepted central political standard is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). During the early 20th century, the U.S.S.R. quickly took shape after the Russian Empire and Russian Republic were overthrown during the Russian Revolution. What followed was a society that embraced communism and a strong military rule. During the reign of Joseph Stalin, the U.S.S.R. was purged of those that opposed the communist party. Stalin himself was a dictator, and the Soviet’s lacked the political democracy that other countries experienced. Today the U.S.S.R. is known as the Russian Federation and its current President is Vladimir Putin.
It has been disclosed that Vladimir Putin was born in the U.S.S.R. in the city of Saint Petersburg. Today, Saint Petersburg is in the country of Russia. Vladimir Putin grew up in a harsh communist society that constantly kept a watchful eye on its own citizens and other countries to avoid another uprising. The U.S.S.R. was also extremely competitive, and it sought to show Westernized capitalist countries that their form of government and economy was as equal to theirs. While it did not have the monetary system equivalent to the traditional Western one, the Soviets financed a space program, massive housing construction, reformed the energy system, and built new infrastructure to link country’s and cities. As an adult Mr. Putin studied law at the University level and eventually began a career with the K.G.B. After the collapse and disbandment of the U.S.S.R., the Russian Federation emerged in 1991. He gained recognition, and eventually was appointed to Prime Minister of Russia in August of 1999.
Vladimir Putin quickly gained the trust of the first President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yel’tsin and the Russian people. When President Yel’tsin sought to resign in 1999, he appointed Vladimir Putin to President. Mr. Putin went on to win the Russian Presidential election in 2000, 2004, 2012, and 2018. He was also Prime Minister a second time from 2008 to 2012 (Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020). There are not very many political leaders today that are able to maintain that level of popularity with the people of their country to be consistently reelected.
President Putin’s Leadership
President Putin grew up in a communist society where most of the political and economical decisions of a country were decided for the citizens, and where democratic decision-making processes were lacking. Therefore, the citizens already had mixed feelings about their government. Some had great love of their country, and rigorously worked to transform it to a more democratic socialist society, while others harbored over great distrust of the new process and its more Westernized process. In order to be embraced by the majority and ease their tensions, President Putin used a mix of leadership styles. He routinely demonstrated the authoritarian, authoritative, and transitional leadership styles throughout his time as Russian President. The style used would be dependent on what goal he was seeking to accomplish.
Prior to becoming President on December 31st, 1999, Vladimir Putin released a manifesto entitled Russia at the Turn of the Millennium where he ”outlined a developmental agenda that aspired to transform Russia into a vibrant capitalist economy in which standards of living within a generation would equal those of developed Western societies” (Sakwa, 2008, p. 881). Prior to his first presidential term, Russia had been dealing with some serious issues while transitioning away from the communist system that was instilled during the Soviet era. In some region’s food became scarce, crime increased, and more of the population turned to drugs and alcohol. To ensure the country started to transform into a more prosperous one, he began exhibiting an authoritarian leadership style, and removed questionable people from their political positions, and helped replace them with people more likely to help with Russia’s restructuring. While it took a while for this restricting to become more apparent. The quality of life and wages have steadily increased in Russia while President Putin has been in leadership positions. By 2020, “Russia has enjoyed sustained economic growth during his rule. Since 1999, the average income has increased tenfold” (DW Documentary, 2020). During his 2nd presidential term, “Putin purposed a type of modernization without modernity” (Sakwa, 2008, p. 884). This is much of what we see today throughout Russia.
No matter the political and economic conditions of the country, Russian’s have always taken great pride in their history and cultural traditions. This is seen throughout every change the country endures. One of its prized cultural gems is the Russian Orthodox church, which has endured many century’s in Russia, and has even survived periods of persecution. Today, President Putin is often seen leading by example and encouraging Russians to establish a higher degree of moral values and to embrace Christianity. He exhibits the transitional and authoritative leadership styles to encourage this more positive behavior. President Putin attends church regularly and has actively been securing funds to rebuild neglected churches, while building new ones. Recently, the Main Patriarchal Orthodox Christian Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection of the Russian Military Forces was opened making it one of the newest churches in Russia (Orthodox Church, 2020). Of course, this transformational leadership technique is only effective if the organization first establishes a high level of ethical standards (Carlson & Perrewe, 1995, p. 830). Which could partly explain why Russia has been putting such effort on growing its Christian base.
President Putin’s Failures
While the Russian Federation was formed with the larger goal of creating a wealthier capitalist society that could challenge those of the Western nations, the overall transition has not gone as quickly or smoothly as once predicted. Since, taking office many of the ambitious goals have not been accomplished. While the living wages and quality of life have steadily increased for many Russians, there are still many areas that have not changed as quickly as others. The Russian oligarchs have consistently still exhibited behavior that has led to Russia being cut out of international business deals that could better the society as a whole. In 2018, around 100 Russian oligarchs were sanctioned by President Trump alone (Wolf, 2018). While President Putin’s support of the oligarchs might help both politically and economically on a smaller scale, they do not have the full international reach to penetrate through to secure more prosperous business deals to elevate Russia’s status higher in Western society.
President Putin also has failed to further develop the infrastructure that is needed to allow citizens to easily move throughout the country. Also, many areas still lack basic city necessities like running water in their homes, and sewer lines (The Guardian, 2017). Despite where President Putin has failed, he has used his charisma and love of Russia to maintain popularity with the majority of Russian voters.
Lessons from President Putin’s Leadership
The Russian President has had many shortcomings during his time as both president and prime minister. While he had been active in outing political figures that had not proven to show commitment to Russia’s restructuring, often through force, he also exhibits a few of the desired leadership traits. President Putin often is labeled as being borderline dictator; however, if such force is used it must also be used in extreme circumstances. For example, to combat a criminal circle that is putting many people in harm’s way or causing excessive disruption while violating the law. These lessons can be transcribed to the business world as well. While a leader should lead by example, and necessary by force, there are times when a leader needs to stand up for what is good for the company and its employees, as well as society. If there are highly unethical practices being conducted, then it would be the duty of those that know to either get them to change or remove them from their position. If it would be something illegal taking place, then it would be the duty of those that know what is happening to report it to the proper authorities.
Finally, President Putin has also been a good example of what to do to maintain popularity and trust among people. In his case, he used the foundation that was the Russian Empire and the U.S.S.R. to glorify and uplift the spirits of the Russian people. The past three decades have proven difficult for Russia, and the varying leadership styles used by President Putin have been necessary to receive positive feedback from so many different Russians. Additionally, he has taken steps to lessen the isolationist reputation that the U.S.S.R. once had, by regularly visiting other countries, and attending events. These are also ideals that could be incorporated into any leader’s agenda. Having a versatile leadership style and adjusting the needs of the company to accomplish the organizational goals, while actively maintaining and making new connections will help create a positive response from a leader’s followers.
References
Carlson, D. S., & Perrewe, P. L. (1995). Institutionalization of Organizational Ethics Through Transformational Leaderships. Journal of Business Ethics, 14, 829-838. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.tuproxy.palni.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=cb74e5cc-9d6e-4d5c-be87-18a2fc984387%40sdc-v-sessmgr02
DW Documentary. (2020, March 26). Putin's Pride: Cossacks and the Church. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/euxt0argojI
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. (2020). Vladimir Putin: President of Russia. Retrieved July 2020, from Encyclopedia Britannica: britannica.com/biography/Vladimir-Putin/Third-presidential-term
HBS Online. (2019, November 12). 5 Pros & Cons of Authoritative Leadership. Retrieved July 2020, from Harvard Business School Online: https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/authoritative-leadership-style
Orthodox Church. (2020, June 22). President Putin and Patriarch Cyril Visit the Orthodox Military Cathedral. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/y33QI1J1Qc0
Sakwa, R. (2008, August). Putin's Leadership: Character and Consequences. Europe-Asia Studies, 60(6), 879-897. Retrieved July 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1080/09668130802161132
The Guardian. (2017, March 23). Why is Russia Still in Love with Putin? Retrieved July 2020, from https://youtu.be/pl8Ef7cgUu8
Wolf, Z. (2018, April 6). Russia's Oligarchs are Different from Other Billionaires. Retrieved July 2020, from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/06/politics/oligarch-russia-billionaires-government-putin-sanctions/index.html
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