Leadership Orientations of Russian Working Adults: Do Age, Gender, Education, and Government Work Experience Make a Difference?

Working people often have different notions and attitudes toward leadership based on cultural background and context as well as various demographic traits. This study examines the leadership orientations of 519 Russian working adults based on age, gender, education, and government work experience. It appears that they are more relationship-oriented than task-oriented. Task-oriented leadership is the preferred style in government sector. Age and gender appear to be significant factors in determining the difference of task-oriented traits as older Russian people tend to be more task-oriented than younger Russian people and Russian males are more task-oriented than Russian females. Education appears to make a difference in the relationship but not in the task scores. In this paper, Russian history, culture and leadership, as well as the behavioral approach to leadership are presented along with practical implications and suggestions for managers, practitioners and future studies.