A portrait of a Russian manager

It is well known that success of a company mostly depends on its manager, his or her ability to cope with changing economic and political conditions and take correct decisions to lead a company in the right direction. That is why in Russia much attention has always been paid to selection and education of managers.
In the last decades economic and political situation in Russia changed dramatically. The country moved from socialism with its tough state-controlled economy to democracy. It is reasonable to suggest that average portrait of a Russian manager changed as well, and the changes reflected all the spheres of life.
In the Soviet Union the major quality of a manager was partisanship to Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its ideas. Even a highly professional specialist could not become a manager if his or her political views did not correspond to Party’s ideas. As a rule, an average manager was a highly-educated male of 50-55 years old. This age was quite reasonable, because in the USSR one had to pass all the stairs of a career ladder in the same company to become its manager. It helped future tops to study the activity of a company thoroughly.
In early 90s the situation changed cardinally. Private enterprise became possible, and young venturesome people gained an opportunity to start their own business and become managers leaping some stairs of a career ladder. In that period much attention was paid to mobility and dynamism of directors that helped them to lead their companies to success and prosperity under rapidly changing conditions.
Nowadays most directors are men having higher education. Specialists are sure that a modern top manager is much younger than a soviet-time leader, as now his or her average age is 40-45. Most managers tend to get working experience in different spheres and companies; from time to time they improve their business education attending seminars and trainings. It is compulsory for tops to speak foreign languages, as Russian companies have multiple business contacts with foreign ones.
Thus the average portrait of a Russian manager changed under altering politic and economic conditions.