Term Paper
Leadership of Vladimir Putin
Course Name: Business Leadership
Course Code: BUS7303
Submitted by
Name: Fatin Ishraq Shapnil
Roll No: 2223031089
Batch: 29
Section: A
Instructor
Dr. Ziaur Rahman
Associate Professor
MBA (Professional)
Faculty of Business Studies
Bangladesh University of Professionals
Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka- 1216
Date of Submission: 24/11/2022
I
Letter of Transmittal
November 24, 2022
Dr. Ziaur Rahman
Associate Professor
Faculty of Business Studies
Bangladesh University of Professionals
Subject: Submission of term paper on “Leadership of Vladimir Putin”
Dear Sir,
It gives me enormous pleasure to submit this term paper that I have completed as part of fulfilling
the requirement for the Business Leadership course from MBA (Professional), Bangladesh
University of Professionals. The report contains a comprehensive study on “Leadership of
Vladimir Putin”. I have put my best effort in preparing this report and to make it a valuable one. It
was a helpful experience and an opportunity for me to have worked in such an organization.
It has also to be referenced that without your expert advice and participation it would not have
been conceivable to finish this report. I sincerely expect that you would be kind enough to accept
my report for evaluation and oblige thereby.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Fatin Ishraq Shapnil
ID: 2223031089
MBA (Professional)
II
Acknowledgement
Firstly, I would like to thank Almighty Allah for his grace in completing this term paper. Secondly,
I would like to say thanks to my beloved family members whom I will always be indebted to. My
thanks and appreciations also go to the people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities
in this term paper. My sincere gratitude goes to my course teacher Dr. Ziaur Rahman sir for
tirelessly and willingly sharing his scholarly experience and for making this dissertation a
successful undertaking. He has been available for consultation, his professional guidance and
supervision added value to this work.
The experience I have gathered will be a privilege for my future career planning. I believe that this
Business Leadership course has prepared me for taking up new challenging opportunities in future.
I also acknowledge the Bangladesh University of Professionals, Faculty of Business Studies for
providing me with a conductive learning environment for my studies.
III
Executive Summary
The main objective within this term paper was to analyze leadership of any individual leader. I
have chosen President Vladimir Putin as a subject in the perception of leadership. Here I will
provide a short summary to understand President Vladimir Putin better. Vladimir Putin can be
described as a unique leader, which possesses a considerable number of different qualities, traits
and behavioral characteristics which may be compared to other highly successful leaders. I tried
to analyze, President Vladimir Putin’s leadership. Here I will start of by explaining what leadership
is and how Vladimir Putin puts these to work. And finally, I will try to explain what lessons can
be learned from the president of Russia Vladimir Putin
Keywords: Leadership, Leader, Vladimir Putin, Russia, President of Russia
IV
Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin................................................................................................... 2
Early life…………………………………………….. 2
Education…………………………………………….. 2
Family…………………………………………….. 2
First and second terms as President of Russia…………………………………….. 3
Putin as Prime Minister …………………………………………….4
Third presidential term………………………………………… 5
The Ukraine conflict and Syrian intervention ………………………………………………..5
Silencing critics and actions in the West …………………………………………………..7
Forth presidential term………………………………………… 5
Vladimir Putin as a leader............................................................................................................ 12
Qualities and traits of Vladimir Putin 12
The action centered leadership 13
Behavioral leadership of Vladimir Putin 13
Vladimir Putin’s Styles of Leadership 14
Autocratic ........................................................................................................... 15
Democratic Leadership .................................................................................. 15
Laissez-faire ....................................................................................................... 15
Inspirational or Visionary Leadership ..................................................... 16
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 17
V
Vladimir Putin
President of Russia
Figure: Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin is the current president of Russia, holding the position since 2012 and
previously serving the position between 1998 until 2008. Additionally, he has served as the
Prime Minister of Russia between 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. In 1999, then
President Boris Yeltsin dismissed his prime minister at the time, promoting former KGB
officer Mr. Putin in his place.
1
Introduction
I have chosen the president of Russia, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin as my individual leader. He
is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as the president of Russia
since 2012, having previously served between 2000 and 2008. He was the prime minister of Russia
from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012, thus having served continuously as either
president or prime minister from 1999 onwards. Vladimir Putin is not only the president of Russia,
but also the president of the largest country on the planet. He was born in 1952 in St. Petersburg,
also known formally known as Leningrad.
After graduating from Leningrad State University, Putin began his career in the KGB as an
intelligence officer in 1975. Putin rose step by step first through the mayor’s office of St.
Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak’s administration, then as the director of the FSB and then to the top
ranks of the Russian government after joining former President Boris Yeltsin’s administration in
1998. He became the prime minister in 1999 before taking over the presidency and held this
position for 2 terms. He eventually became the president again in 2012.
Vladimir Putin is not only the president of Russia, but also the president of the largest country on
the planet. A county that has several different time zones has half of the world’s nuclear war heads
and the largest energy producer in the world. He is not a man that can be delicate, his actions have
shown that there’s one message that he wants to convey only and that is that he wants to he
represents power. However, while Russia holds massive reserved in gas, coal, and oil, because of
the unbalanced economy this is only good when the prices of energy go up.
Strong and wise leadership acquires success in the long run. Through analyzing most political
leaders we see that they have a very distinct period of entry, period of association and a period of
decline. The period of entry such as the rise of the presidential ship of Putin is a highly uncertain
time, since Russia was ready for change and needed a new strong leader that could develop their
country for the better and fight the corruption. Vladimir Putin’s life cycle, he started his leadership
for Russia in the year 2000 and strengthened his powers through making his mark on his country.
2
He has proven success for the Russian nation through better and stable economic situations.
Furthermore, he keeps improving his performance as a leader of a great nation with his vision for
a better future for the entire Soviet Union.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
Early life
Putin was born on 7 October 1952 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia), the
youngest of three children of Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna
Putina (née Shelomova; 1911–1998). His grandfather, Spiridon Putin, was a personal cook to
Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. Putin's birth was preceded by the deaths of two brothers: Albert,
born in the 1930s, died in infancy, and Viktor, born in 1940, died of diphtheria and starvation in
1942 during the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany's forces in World War II.
Putin's mother was a factory worker, and his father was a conscript in the Soviet Navy, serving in
the submarine fleet in the early 1930s. Early in World War II, his father served in the destruction
battalion of the NKVD. Later, he was transferred to the regular army and was severely wounded
in 1942. Putin's maternal grandmother was killed by the German occupiers of Tver region in 1941,
and his maternal uncles disappeared on the Eastern Front during World War II.
Five-year-old Vladimir Putin with his mother, Maria, in July 1958
3
On 1 September 1960, Putin started at School No. 193 at Baskov Lane, near his home. He was one
of a few in the class of approximately 45 pupils who were not yet members of the Young Pioneer
organization. At age 12, he began to practise sambo and judo. In his free time, he enjoyed reading
the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Lenin. Putin studied German at Saint Petersburg
High School and speaks German as a second language.
Family
On 28 July 1983, Putin married Lyudmila Shkrebneva, and they lived together in East Germany
from 1985 to 1990. They have two daughters, Mariya Putina, born on 28 April 1985 in Leningrad
(now Saint Petersburg), and Yekaterina Putina, born on 31 August 1986 in Dresden, East Germany
(now Germany). An investigation by Proekt published in November 2020 alleged that Putin has
another daughter, Elizaveta, also known as Luiza Rozova, (born in March 2003), with Svetlana
Krivonogikh.
Putin and Lyudmila Putina during their wedding on 28 July 1983
4
In April 2008, the Moskovsky Korrespondent reported that Putin had divorced Lyudmila and was
engaged to marry Olympic gold medalist Alina Kabaeva, a former rhythmic gymnast and Russian
politician. The story was denied, and the newspaper was shut down shortly thereafter. Putin and
Lyudmila continued to make public appearances together as spouses, while the status of his
relationship with Kabaeva became a topic of speculation. On 6 June 2013, Putin and Lyudmila
announced that their marriage was over; on 1 April 2014, the Kremlin confirmed that the divorce
had been finalised. Kabaeva reportedly gave birth to a daughter by Putin in 2015; this report was
denied. Kabaeva reportedly gave birth to twin sons by Putin in 2019. However, in 2022, Swiss
media, citing the couple's Swiss gynecologist, wrote that on both occasions Kabaeva gave birth to
a boy.
Putin has two grandsons, born in 2012 and 2017, through Maria. He reportedly also has a
granddaughter, born in 2017, through Katerina. His cousin, Igor Putin, was a director at Moscowbased Master Bank and was accused in several money-laundering scandals.
Education
Putin studied law at the Leningrad State University named after Andrei Zhdanov (now Saint
Petersburg State University) in 1970 and graduated in 1975.His thesis was on "The Most Favored
Nation Trading Principle in International Law". While there, he was required to join the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and remained a member until it ceased to exist in
1991.
Putin met Anatoly Sobchak, an assistant professor who taught business law, and who later became
the co-author of the Russian constitution and of corruption schemes in France. Putin would be
influential in Sobchak's career in Saint Petersburg, and Sobchak would be influential in Putin's
career in Moscow. In 1997, he received his Ph.D. in economics at the Saint Petersburg Mining
University for a thesis on the strategic planning of the mineral economy.
5
KGB career
In 1975, Putin joined the KGB and trained at the 401st KGB school in Okhta, Leningrad. After
training, he worked in the Second Chief Directorate (counterintelligence), before he was
transferred to the First Chief Directorate, where he monitored foreigners and consular officials in
Leningrad. In September 1984, Putin was sent to Moscow for further training at the Yuri Andropov
Red Banner Institute.
Multiple reports have suggested Putin was sent by the KGB to New Zealand, allegedly working
for some time undercover as, among at least one other alias, a Bata shoe salesman in central
Wellington. From 1985 to 1990, he served in Dresden, East Germany, using a cover identity as a
translator.
Unlike Putin's presence in East Germany, his time in New Zealand has never been confirmed by
Russian security services but corroborated through New Zealand eyewitness accounts and
government records. Former Waitākere City mayor Bob Harvey and Prime Minister during the
1980s David Lange both alleged that Putin served in both Wellington and Auckland.
Putin in the KGB in 1980
6
According to Putin's official biography, during the fall of the Berlin Wall that began on 9
November 1989, he saved the files of the Soviet Cultural Center (House of Friendship) and of the
KGB villa in Dresden for the official authorities of the would-be united Germany to prevent
demonstrators, including KGB and Stasi agents, from obtaining and destroying them. He then
supposedly burnt only the KGB files, in a few hours, but saved the archives of the Soviet Cultural
Center for the German authorities. Nothing is told about the selection criteria during this burning;
for example, concerning Stasi files or about files of other agencies of the German Democratic
Republic or of the USSR. He explained that many documents were left to Germany only because
the furnace burst but many documents of the KGB villa were sent to Moscow.
After the collapse of the Communist East German government, Putin was to resign from active
KGB service because of suspicions aroused regarding his loyalty during demonstrations in
Dresden and earlier, though the KGB and the Soviet Army still operated in eastern Germany. He
returned to Leningrad in early 1990 as a member of the "active reserves", where he worked for
about three months with the International Affairs section of Leningrad State University, reporting
to Vice-Rector Yuriy Molchanov, while working on his doctoral dissertation.
There, he looked for new KGB recruits, watched the student body, and renewed his friendship
with his former professor, Anatoly Sobchak, soon to be the Mayor of Leningrad. Putin claims that
he resigned with the rank of lieutenant colonel on 20 August 1991, on the second day of the 1991
Soviet coup d'état attempt against the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Putin said: "As soon
as the coup began, I immediately decided which side I was on", although he noted that the choice
was hard because he had spent the best part of his life with "the organs".
Political career
The political career of Vladimir Putin concerns the career of Vladimir Putin in politics, including
his current tenure as President of Russia. Vladimir Putin is the current president of Russia, holding
the position since 2012 and previously serving the position between 1998 until 2008. Additionally,
he has served as the Prime Minister of Russia between 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
7
In 1999, then President Boris Yeltsin dismissed his prime minister at the time, promoting former
KGB officer Mr. Putin in his place.
Moscow career (1996–1999)
In 1996 Putin moved to Moscow, where he joined the presidential staff as deputy to Pavel Borodin,
the Kremlin’s chief administrator. Putin grew close to fellow Leningrader Anatoly Chubais and
moved up in administrative positions. In July 1998 Pres. Boris Yeltsin made Putin director of the
Federal Security Service (FSB; the KGB’s domestic successor), and shortly thereafter he became
secretary of the influential Security Council. Yeltsin, who was searching for an heir to assume his
mantle, appointed Putin prime minister in 1999.
Although he was virtually unknown, Putin’s public-approval ratings soared when he launched a
well-organized military operation against secessionist rebels in Chechnya. Wearied by years of
Yeltsin’s erratic behavior, the Russian public appreciated Putin’s coolness and decisiveness under
pressure. Putin’s support for a new electoral bloc, Unity, ensured its success in the December
parliamentary elections.
First and second terms as a President of Russia
On December 31, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly announced his resignation and named Putin acting
president. Promising to rebuild a weakened Russia, the austere and reserved Putin easily won the
March 2000 elections with about 53 percent of the vote. As president, he sought to end corruption
and create a strongly regulated market economy.
During his first tenure as president, the Russian economy grew on average by seven percent per
year, following economic reforms and a fivefold increase in the price of oil and gas. He also led
Russia during a war against Chechen separatists, reestablishing federal control of the region. As
prime minister under Medvedev, he oversaw military reform and police reform, as well as Russia's
victory in its war against Georgia. During his third term as president, Russia annexed Crimea and
8
sponsored a war in eastern Ukraine with several military incursions made, resulting in international
sanctions and a financial crisis in Russia. He also ordered a military intervention in Syria against
rebel and jihadist groups. During his fourth term as president, he presided over a military buildup
on the border of Ukraine. Putin accused the Ukrainian government of committing atrocities against
its Russian-speaking minority, and in February 2022, he ordered a full-scale invasion of the
country, resulting in numerous atrocities and leading to widespread international condemnation,
as well as expanded sanctions and calls for Putin to be pursued with war crime charges.
Putin taking the presidential oath beside Boris Yeltsin, May 2000
Under Putin's leadership, Russia has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift to
authoritarianism. Putin's rule has been characterised by endemic corruption, the jailing and
repression of political opponents, the intimidation and suppression of independent media in Russia,
and a lack of free and fair elections. Putin's Russia has scored poorly on Transparency
International's Corruption Perceptions Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index,
and Freedom House's Freedom in the World index. Putin is the second-longest currently serving
European president after Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.
9
Putin quickly reasserted control over Russia’s 89 regions and republics, dividing them into seven
new federal districts, each headed by a representative appointed by the president. He also removed
the right of regional governors to sit in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian
parliament. Putin moved to reduce the power of Russia’s unpopular financiers and media
tycoons—the so-called “oligarchs”—by closing several media outlets and launching criminal
proceedings against numerous leading figures. He faced a difficult situation in Chechnya,
particularly from rebels who staged terrorist attacks in Moscow and guerilla attacks on Russian
troops from the region’s mountains; in 2002 Putin declared the military campaign over, but
casualties remained high.
Putin strongly objected to U.S. Pres. George W. Bush’s decision in 2001 to abandon the 1972
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. In response to the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001,
he pledged Russia’s assistance and cooperation in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorists and
their allies, offering the use of Russia’s airspace for humanitarian deliveries and help in searchand-rescue operations. Nevertheless, Putin joined German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder and
French Pres. Jacques Chirac in 2002–03 to oppose U.S. and British plans to use force to oust
Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq.
Overseeing an economy that enjoyed growth after a prolonged recession in the 1990s, Putin was
easily reelected in March 2004. In parliamentary elections in December 2007, Putin’s party, United
Russia, won an overwhelming majority of seats. Though the fairness of the elections was
questioned by international observers and by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the
results nonetheless affirmed Putin’s power. With a constitutional provision forcing Putin to step
down in 2008, he chose Dmitry Medvedev as his successor.
10
Putin as a Prime Minister
Soon after Medvedev won the March 2008 presidential election by a landslide, Putin announced
that he had accepted the position of chairman of the United Russia party. Confirming widespread
expectations, Medvedev nominated Putin as the country’s prime minister within hours of taking
office on May 7, 2008. Russia’s parliament confirmed the appointment the following day.
Although Medvedev grew more assertive as his term progressed, Putin was still regarded as the
main power within the Kremlin.
While some speculated that Medvedev might run for a second term, he announced in September
2011 that he and Putin would—pending a United Russia victory at the polls—trade positions.
Widespread irregularities in parliamentary elections in December 2011 triggered a wave of popular
protest, and Putin faced a surprisingly strong opposition movement in the presidential race. On
March 4, 2012, however, Putin was elected to a third term as Russia’s president. In advance of his
inauguration, Putin resigned as United Russia chairman, handing control of the party to Medvedev.
He was inaugurated as president on May 7, 2012, and one of his first acts upon assuming office
was to nominate Medvedev to serve as prime minister.
Third presidential term
Putin’s first year back in office as president was characterized by a largely successful effort to
stifle the protest movement. Opposition leaders were jailed, and nongovernmental organizations
that received funding from abroad were labeled as “foreign agents.” Tensions with the United
States flared in June 2013, when U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward
Snowden sought refuge in Russia after revealing the existence of several secret NSA programs.
Snowden was allowed to remain in Russia on the condition that, in the words of Putin, he stop
“bringing harm to our American partners.” After chemical weapons attacks outside Damascus in
August 2013, the U.S. made the case for military intervention in the Syrian Civil War. In an
editorial published in The New York Times, Putin urged restraint, and U.S. and Russian officials
brokered a deal whereby Syria’s chemical weapons supply would be destroyed.
11
Putin commemorated the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the post-Soviet constitution in
December 2013 by ordering the release of some 25,000 individuals from Russian prisons. In a
separate move, he granted a pardon to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of the Yukos oil
conglomerate who had been imprisoned for more than a decade on charges that many outside
Russia claimed were politically motivated.
The Ukraine conflict and Syrian intervention
In February 2014, when the government of Ukrainian Pres. Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown
after months of sustained protests, Yanukovych fled to Russia. Refusing to recognize the interim
government in Kiev as legitimate, Putin requested parliamentary approval to dispatch troops to
Ukraine to safeguard Russian interests. By early March 2014 Russian troops and pro-Russian
paramilitary groups had effectively taken control of Crimea, a Ukrainian autonomous republic
whose population was predominantly ethnic Russian. In a popular referendum held on March 16,
residents of the Crimea voted to join Russia, and Western governments introduced a series of travel
bans and asset freezes against members of Putin’s inner circle. On March 18 Putin, stating that the
Crimea had always been part of Russia, signed a treaty incorporating the peninsula into the Russian
Federation. Over subsequent days still more of Putin’s political allies were targeted with economic
sanctions by the U.S. and the EU. After ratification of the treaty by both houses of the Russian
parliament, on March 21 Putin signed legislation that formalized the Russian annexation of
Crimea.
On February 12, 2015, Putin met with other world leaders in Minsk to approve a 12-point peace
plan aimed at ending the fighting in Ukraine. Although fighting slowed for a period, the conflict
picked up again in the spring, and by September 2015 the United Nations (UN) estimated that
some 8,000 people had been killed and 1.5 million had been displaced because of the fighting. On
September 28, 2015, in an address before the UN General Assembly, Putin presented his vision of
Russia as a world power, capable of projecting its influence abroad, while painting the United
States and NATO as threats to global security. Two days later Russia became an active participant
12
in the Syrian Civil War, when Russian aircraft struck targets near the cities of Homs and Hama.
Although Russian defense officials stated that the air strikes were intended to target troops and
matériel belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the actual focus of the attacks
seemed to have been on opponents of Syrian president and Russian ally Bashar al-Assad.
Protesting against the Russian invasion
of Ukraine in Nice, France, 27 February 2022
Beginning in early 2021 and from late 2021 until February 2022, Russia built up a large military
presence near its border with Ukraine, including from within neighboring Belarus. The North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accused Russia of readying for an invasion, which Russian
officials repeatedly denied. As tensions rose over the buildup, Russian president Vladimir Putin
criticized the enlargement of NATO and demanded that Ukraine be barred from ever joining the
military alliance. He also expressed irredentist views and questioned Ukraine's right to exist. On
21 February 2022, Russia officially recognized the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk
People's Republic as independent states, and deployed troops to those territories.
Three days later, Putin announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine during a televised
broadcast, marking the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia commenced a full-scale
military invasion of Ukraine, conducting attacks that have caused civilian deaths and injuries, and
13
damage to civilian buildings, including hospitals, schools, and homes. There have been
indiscriminate attacks in violation of the laws of war, some of which may amount to war crimes.
By the end of the first week of hostilities, over a million people in Ukraine had fled their homes,
many seeking refuge outside Ukraine. In Russia, censorship reached new heights as authorities
blocked access to multiple independent media sites based on their publications about the war, and
major independent outlets closed. Thousands of anti-war protesters across Russia were arbitrarily
detained during the first week of the war. The European Union and its member states should do
everything they can to ensure safe passage and fair treatment for all civilians fleeing Ukraine.
Silencing critics and actions in the West
On February 27, 2015, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down within sight of the
Kremlin, just days after he had spoken out against Russian intervention in Ukraine. Nemtsov was
only the latest Putin critic to be assassinated or to die under suspicious circumstances. In January
2016 a British public inquiry officially implicated Putin in the 2006 murder of former Federal
Security Service (FSB; the successor to the KGB) officer Alexander Litvinenko. Litvinenko, who
had spoken out against Russian government ties to organized crime both before and after his
defection to the United Kingdom, was poisoned with polonium-210 while drinking tea in a London
hotel bar. Britain ordered the extradition of the two men accused of carrying out the assassination,
but both denied involvement and Andrey Lugovoy had since been elected to the Duma and enjoyed
parliamentary immunity from prosecution.
Aleksey Navalny, an opposition activist who had first achieved prominence as a leader of the 2011
protest movement, was repeatedly imprisoned on what supporters characterized as politically
motivated charges. Navalny finished second in the Moscow mayoral race in 2013, but his Progress
Party was shut out of subsequent elections on procedural grounds. In the September 2016
legislative election, voter turnout was just 47.8 percent, the lowest since the collapse of the Soviet
Union. Voter apathy was attributed to Putin’s steady implementation of so-called “managed
democracy,” a system whereby the basic structures and procedures of democracy were maintained
but the outcome of elections was largely predetermined. Putin’s United Russia party claimed
14
victory, but election observers documented numerous irregularities, including instances of ballot
stuffing and repeat voting. Navalny’s party was prohibited from fielding any candidates because
of its registration status, and Nemtsov’s PARNAS received less than 1 percent of the vote.
By 2016 Putin’s involvement had shifted the balance in power in Syria, and evidence emerged that
Russia was conducting a wide-ranging hybrid warfare campaign intended to undermine the power
and legitimacy of Western democracies. Many of the attacks blurred the line between cyberwarfare
and cybercrime, while others recalled the direct Soviet interventionism of the Cold War era.
Russian fighter jets routinely violated NATO airspace in the Baltic, and a pair of sophisticated
cyberattacks on the Ukrainian power grid plunged hundreds of thousands of people into darkness.
Ukrainian Pres. Petro Poroshenko reported that his country had been subjected to more than 6,000
cyber intrusions over a two-month period, with virtually every sector of Ukrainian society being
targeted. Poroshenko stated that Ukrainian investigators had linked the cyberwar campaign to
Russian security services. In Montenegro, where the pro-Western government was preparing for
accession to NATO, authorities narrowly averted a plot to assassinate Montenegrin Prime Minister
Milo Jovanović and install a pro-Russian government. Montenegrin prosecutors uncovered a
conspiracy that linked nationalist Serbs, pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine, and, allegedly, a
pair of Russian intelligence agents who had orchestrated the planned coup.
Fourth presidential term
As the March 2018 presidential election approached, it seemed all but certain that Putin would win
a fourth presidential term by a wide margin. Navalny, the face of the opposition, was barred from
running, and the Communist candidate, Pavel Grudinin, faced incessant criticism from the staterun media. Two weeks before the election, Putin became the focus of a major international incident
when Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain
only to be released to the United Kingdom as part of a prisoner swap, was found unconscious with
his daughter in Salisbury, England. Investigators alleged that the pair had been exposed to a
“novichok,” a complex nerve agent developed by the Soviets. British officials accused Putin of
15
having ordered the attack, and British Prime Minister Theresa May expelled nearly two dozen
Russian intelligence operatives who had been working in Britain under diplomatic cover.
Putin taking the presidential oath at
his 4th inauguration ceremony (7 May 2018)
The diplomatic row had not abated when Russians went to the polls on March 18, 2018. The date
was, not coincidentally, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s forcible annexation of the Ukrainian
autonomous republic of Crimea, an event that marked a spike in Putin’s domestic popularity. As
expected, Putin claimed an overwhelming majority of the vote in an election that independent
monitoring agency Golos characterized as being rife with irregularities. Putin had wished for a
higher turnout than in his 2012 election victory, and ballot stuffing was observed in numerous
locations. Putin’s campaign characterized the result as an “incredible victory.”
On July 16, 2018, fresh from the success of Russia’s well-received hosting of the World Cup
football championship, Putin held a summit meeting in Helsinki with Trump. The two had
conducted discussions at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Hamburg, Germany, and the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Da Nang, Vietnam, in 2017, but the encounter in
16
Finland marked their first formal one-on-one meeting. It came at the end of Trump’s trip to Europe
in which he had ruffled relations with the United States’ traditional European allies. Although
some observers questioned whether Trump would be able to hold his own in discussions with a
counterpart as seasoned and cagey as Putin, Trump said that he thought his meeting with Putin
would be the “easiest” of his trip.
After Putin kept Trump waiting by arriving late, the two met alone (with only translator’s present)
for some two hours and then more briefly in the presence of advisers. In the press conference that
followed, Putin once again denied any Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump then sent shock waves when, in response to a reporter’s question, he indicated that he
trusted Putin’s denial more than the conclusions of his own intelligence organizations, which only
days earlier had resulted in the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment of 12 Russian intelligence
agents for their meddling in the election. Moreover, given the opportunity to condemn
transgressive Russian actions, Trump instead cast blame on the United States for its strained
relationship with Russia. Trump also warmed to Putin’s offer to allow U.S. investigators to
interview the Russian agents in return for Russian access to Americans of interest in Russian
investigations.
Asked by an American reporter if he had favoured Trump in the election, Putin said that he had,
because of Trump’s expressed desire for better relations with Russia. When questioned about
whether Russia had kompromat (compromising information) on Trump, Putin pointed to the St.
Petersburg Economic Forum and talked about the impossibility of obtaining compromising
material on each of the more than 500 “high-ranking, high-level” American businessmen said to
have attended the conference. He also said that he had been unaware of Trump’s presence in
Moscow during an earlier visit. Some press accounts of his answer, however, pointed out that Putin
did not explicitly deny having Trump-related kompromat. The Russian press trumpeted the summit
as a huge success for Putin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the outcome of the
summit as “better than super.” The response in the United States was mostly shock, and several
Republicans joined Democrats in strongly condemning Trump’s performance.
17
Vladimir Putin as a Leader
Strong and wise leadership acquires success in the long run. Through analyzing most political
leaders we see that they have a very distinct period of entry, period of association and a period of
decline. The period of entry such as the rise of the presidential ship of Putin is a highly uncertain
time, since Russia was ready for change and needed a new strong leader that could develop their
country for the better and fight the corruption. Vladimir Putin’s life cycle, he started his leadership
for Russia in the year 2000 and strengthened his powers through making his mark on his country.
He has proven success for the Russian nation through better and stable economic situations.
Furthermore, he keeps improving his performance as a leader of a great nation with his vision for
a better future for the entire Soviet Union.
Qualities and traits of Vladimir Putin
The qualities and traits approach based on President Vladimir Putin there is no doubt that he is not
a born leader but a made leader. Vladimir Putin has developed many of his leadership traits through
his childhood and experiences in life for example that he came from a poverty family in which his
brothers did not manage to survive from hunger. These huge setbacks motivated and gave him
strong achievement drive to succeed and develop his life for the better since he had nothing to lose.
Putin developed many core traits through his KGB training and his education as a civil law major
in the university, here he exercised his diplomacy and learned how to effectively relate to people
and motivate them at various levels. He mastered his communication skills through learning
multiple foreign languages to communicate with a wide range of individuals, which he gained,
respect from through his knowledge and therefore the respect of their followers.
As for the KGB military training, this built up him to be extremely tough both physically and
mentally as well as conscientiousness, the level of control he had over his mind and body reflected
in his autocratic leadership. The qualities and traits, which he had built up through life experiences
and training was one of his successful, factors in leading Russia. Putin his personality was another
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reason that dictated his leadership style; he is a very ambitious expansionist which shown dominant
and controlling traits. From his younger years the trait we have already spoken about is the selfdiscipline that he had to achieve his goals against all odds. His extremely level of conscientiousness
helped him to successfully grow step by step to gain control over his country and execute his
communist vision of a powerful Soviet Union.
In conclusion Vladimir Putin is a very dominant leader that believes in a strong vision and can
control his citizens through providing a better future and the old strong Soviet Union. He clearly
shows that he has a need of power and influence. Although he is a very firm communist believer,
he mixed Russia with democracy and a form of communism that differentiated the Russian
structure in a good way because he has proven a successful foreign policy, growing military
strength and general improvements in living conditions within the country. He is widely
recognized for solving problems such as the Chechen problem, economic growth. His general
sense of distrust and suspiciousness of others kept him in a strong position to battle the corruption
within the country.
The action centered leadership
John Adair’s action centered leadership model is basically a framework for leadership and
management of any team group organization. John Adair was the first to demonstrate that
leadership is a trainable and transferable skill rather than individuals are born with the capabilities.
He changes the perception of management involving leadership to include abilities such as
decision-making, communication and time managing. The three-core management, leadership
responsibilities are.

Achieving the task by directing the tasks to the right individuals.

Managing the team or group by coordinating and nurture the team.

Managing individuals through reviewing and supporting them based on their needs.
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Efficient leaders shave to have full command of the three areas of action centered leadership and
be able to use these based on the situation. This will help the leaders to keep the right balance and
get results, build morale, improves quality, and develops teams and productivity of the mission.
Vladimir Putin achieves the tasks by directing them to his own personal group of ex KGB worker
and fellow communist who have the same strong vision of a stronger Soviet Union.
Since he is a very control freak, he makes sure that the visions, purpose and directions of the tasks
are clear, and the deadlines will be met. He is a very well-educated man with a PhD in economics
that identifies the countries resources and makes sure that these are efficiently used. Putin clearly
shows that he is a leader and a manager with a heart for Russia. Several examples are for instance
that he personally measured and developed the Russian agricultural sector and proven the success
that Russia can provide for their own people. As well as that he personally took the reconstruction
of the homes and compensation for the victims in the wildfires of 2010.
Behavioral leadership of Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin his behavior falls into a very strict and task oriented individual, which is
obsessively driven by his own vision and ideology. This behavioral preference influences his
management and leadership style, negotiating style, strategic and crisis decision making. Vladimir
Putin always chooses for rational processes over emotional decisions that are a key as a strong
leader of Russia. He can control his emotions and makes decisions for Russia that are clearly
organized and explained why these are for Russia’s best interest. Vladimir Putin his behavior
shows that he is a perfectionist who is concerned with making the right decisions and always avoids
in making mistakes, therefore with his decision-making he takes his time. Although he is a
perfectionist who takes his time for the decisions, he is a man of action. He has proven this through
setting out the limit of influence that the elite companies had in Russia, renewing the tax laws and
decreasing the power of the corrupt government.
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President Vladimir Putin is a very moralistic and judgmental man not only on his followers but as
well on himself. He expects professional and perfectionist behavior from himself and the people
around him. Therefore, he can come over as a very strict and authoritative leader, he has shown
that he does not tolerate disloyal behavior from the people working for him. In conclusion Vladimir
Putin has proven that he initiated structure, re-organized the Russian government, and cleaned out
the corruption, clarified the tasks clearly to his expectations and gathered information from
anywhere where he could through have an open minded and outside view on the government and
his country.
Vladimir Putin’s Styles of Leadership
Vladimir Putin his leadership effectiveness was because he chose the right style at the right time
for the right situation. He understood the Russian culture and what was needed to gain control over
Russia to fight the corruption and lead the country towards success. There are many different types
of leadership styles such as autocratic, participative, charismatic, transformational etc.
Autocratic
This type of leadership centralizes power and decision-making. Vladimir Putin is famous for
having an autocratic leadership style. This is simply because of his personal obsessive disorder
that he is a control freak. He knew if he wanted to realize his vision of a greater Russia, he had to
take control in his own hands. Control freaks like Putin are known for autocratic and autocratic
leadership style, He controlled most of the important decisions made within the government and
was most of the time not open to opinions and insights of others. He was known to be a very
intimidating, influential, feared leader therefore he dominated and controlled the government
completely. This has his advantages for and disadvantages, although since Putin is a visionary who
wants to build up a greater Russia and is a perfectionistic type of person this played out very well
for him.
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Usually, this sort of leadership would be considered negative because it can lead to frustration and
unhappy employees. Moreover, it stagnates the growth of the employees because they are unlikely
to perform to their full potential, although since Putin his employees and team believed in him and
had the same vision, they followed him completely to show loyalty that they would be highly
rewarded for as well.
Democratic Leadership
This style of leadership is also known as participative style. The leader is in control but open to
the group input, often allowing the group to make decisions and collectively assign tasks. This
approach is more towards guiding instead of leading. This is a more acceptable approach because
it encourages employees to be part of the decision-making. Additionally, it’s very informative to
the group because they are aware of everything that affects their work and shares the decision
making and problem-solving responsibilities.
Laissez-faire
This is more of decentralized form of leadership; it refrains from power and responsibility. This
leadership style involves the leader to give no direction, instead allows the group to establish its
own goals and brainstorm the problem on their own.
As mentioned, Vladimir Putin was very much of autocratic leader and based the Continuum Model
he was the only one to make the decisions, there was not little team involvement. During his
establishing a one-party state it was ran as a centrally organize country, with a top-bottom
hierarchy and discipline. Vladimir Putin his decisions are first reviewed based on logic and
practicality, he always reviewed his option in the degree of the aims, issue and prioritized his time
to accomplish if he will take the decision or let his management team go over it first and then he
would take the final decision. In most cases his teams are do not have an influential role on the
decision making since Putin his autocratic leadership style and he thinks he knows what is best
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himself as a perfectionist. He is a sole decision maker; he still listens to his employees and team
absorbs the opinions and views but at the end he makes the final decision.
Inspirational or Visionary Leadership
According to the theory of Adair, Inspirational leadership is all about creating and communicating
a vision that inspire, develop trust and confidence in a manner that motivates and engages followers
who feel committed and have sense a solidarity to work towards a common cause and delivering
exceptional results. It is believed that some traits are inborn, and some can be developed or trained.
Vladimir Putin is clear in his communication with everyone he speaks to and in simple terms that
the broad public can understand. And from time to time, he mingles with the people.
It is Vladimir Putin’s Inspirational and Visionary passion, dynamism and his go-getter attitude that
helped him from a working-class boy into Russia´s most powerful and richest men in the world
and he has been rising to power ever since he became president. He is a nationalistic yet visionary
leader and with his administrative and visionary competency, Vladimir Putin has been able to
outplay all his enemies in an exceptionally political game. He possesses the right dose of critical
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leadership qualities with an exceptional understanding of world of intelligence, international
economics, international business, defense military, technology, international law and diplomacy.
With his visionary leadership he set out to consolidate Russian companies in key industries like
aircraft, oil, military, metals, banks, nanotechnology, gas, auto and many more.
With his high debt default, Russia was on the verge of becoming “failed state. The West may not
be fond of his policies, but it was his vision, sharp strategy, and passionate leadership that made
him change the country’s direction in less in less than 8 years and his dedication that brought
Russia back to the table of world power. Vladimir Putin’s visionary leadership helped Russia to
modernize its economy
Conclusion
Going through the different principles, theories of leadership and the role they have within an
organization, we see that they complement and are dependent of each other as well as important
keys to reach organizational success. Leaders in any organization are dependent on a group of
people or individuals who are ready to follow. As stated earlier in this report, for a leader to be
able to carry out his work, it is of great importance that he can have people who are willing to
follow, are capable and skilled and strive towards a common goal. Without vision, good strategy
and a clear understanding of running an organization, it will be very hard or impossible to reach
your objectives.
Most Russian leaders still have significant pitfalls to improve their leadership styles, and although
there were hardships within the country from decades of the centrally planned Soviet Union
system, as well as the corrupted business environment during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, a
lot of development has been made. Vladimir Putin was ready for a change, compete domestically
and move into highly competitive countries within Europe and the world. Our report also illustrates
that change through the new leadership of Vladimir Putin would bring a leadership style that would
not only compete with the world but would bring economic opportunities and stability to Russia.
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If we look at the history of Russia and the style of leadership of Vladimir Putin, we will see a few
points that are highlighted in what his vision was as a leader of Russia. Some of which includes:

The plan to determine and forecast Russia’s position in the global markets.

Organizing the resources necessary, such as oil, to achieve these objectives.

Command people to do things.

Coordinate the different activities.

Control the activities and make sure they are completed as planned.
Vladimir Putin understood the dynamics of what the country needed and what was needed of him
to fulfill his vision for Russia. When he was elected, despite what he promised to the powerful
families that supported him in his rise to presidency, Putin took control of activities within Russia
such as the media and free press to push his own agenda. He understood that public opinion
mattered in the image that he wanted to portray and took command in the eyes of the public by
crushing the opposition in Russia. At the costs of freedom, Putin brought stability and a sense of
security to Russia. He also kept some of his agreements, made some tactical moves within the
political office which positioned him in the future to be president again.
In this report we can conclude that although Putin has his own personal agenda, changing the way
that Russia was viewed domestically and globally was one of his goals and part of his vision.
Therefore, he may not be the most conventional political leader we know and criticized by his
opponents extremely harsh on his policies, but whether those policies are grounded or not, is not
the question, but it remains a fact that it was Putin who brought back Russia from its lost glories
and back to the world stage.
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