The super final of the fifth season of the Leaders of Russia competition ended in Moscow

The super final of the fifth season of the Leaders of Russia competition, designed to identify the country’s best managers, ended in Moscow on Sunday. “Kommersant” observed how its participants learned “post-truth” and solved the problems of small cities with the help of digital services. And one of the organizers of the competition, Alexey Komissarov, told Kommersant that through this and other personnel projects, he and his colleagues are trying to introduce meritocracy in Russia, which, in his opinion, has a number of advantages over democracy, although in general it does not contradict it.

Some competition participants were able to demonstrate their leadership qualities even before the start of the evaluation activities. So, at the registration desk, one leader, in the presence of a Kommersant correspondent, was asked to sign for receiving a gift. “Well, where is the gift?” — the tall and representative contestant clarified. “I have it here, sign it, I’ll get it now,” answered the representative of the organizers. “Signature for receiving a gift! A gift for the table! – the participant commanded, showing inflexibility and commendable attentiveness when reading the documents being signed.

The unofficial opening of the competition, which is supervised by the presidential administration, took place on February 22. It turned out that the “Leaders of Russia” had their own anthem (although not everyone had learned it yet): “If you exist, be the best. If you exist, be the first. If you exist, don’t listen to the cowardly, don’t try to model yourself, become an example yourself.” Next on the program was a lecture on self-presentation from the winner of the “Young Media Leaders of Russia” competition, high school student Pavel Andrienko. “There is so much information in the modern world and it spreads so quickly that we are losing the boundary between truth and lies,” he told the contestants about the concept of “post-truth” by the French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard. From this thesis, the lecturer made his own specific, but applied conclusions: people do not trust “faceless media.” And even a book from the Lenin Library, the student is sure, is a source of information not without its drawbacks, because modern people need communication with those they know. “If you have the skill of public speaking, this is certainly a plus for your media,” Mr. Andrienko concluded.

At the official opening on February 23, the chairman of the competition’s supervisory board, first deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, spoke. He read out a greeting from Vladimir Putin, and added on his own behalf that the competition participants had already helped their regions, because even at the selection stages they solved “specific management problems” and received high marks from governors. “For those who choose state or municipal service, the most important thing is to always remember that “service” comes from the word “service.” And the people who come to it do not come to govern, they come to serve,” Mr. Kiriyenko concluded his speech.

Next, the “leaders” had to undergo the actual evaluation events, during which they enthusiastically communicated within small groups, and stern evaluators walked between them. As part of one of these tasks, the groups were “distributed” to a small city, and they had to decide how to improve its life using digital technologies. The ward of the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, got Tyrnyauz (Kabardino-Balkaria), where, according to the terms of the task, the work of a mining and processing plant must be resumed, and the contestants, among other things, thought about how to make the city attractive for industrial tourism. The group led by MGIMO Rector Anatoly Torkunov got Nevelsk (Sakhalin), which, according to the mentor, “has its own attractions – for example, the largest seal rookery.” Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov, together with his wards, thought about the development of Akhtarsk (Krasnodar Territory), although he doubted that all the problems of small towns could be solved with the help of digital solutions.

Let us remind you that each participant in the super final will receive a grant of 1 million rubles. for further education and a mentor from among well-known Russian managers. And 102 winners will also be able to count on personnel support from competition experts and HR specialists throughout the year.

The participants of the competition, with whom a Kommersant correspondent spoke, see their future differently. Thus, a participant from Lugansk, Natalya Mosiychuk, has worked all her life in her region (now at the Territorial Development Fund) and wants to stay there: “I want to revive the region. I know, from the stories of my parents, what he was like. We can really revive agriculture and industry. We have very hardworking people. They sometimes say about us that we are uneducated. But, excuse me, they don’t let you into the mine without a higher education.”

The head of the Akimovsky municipal district of the Zaporozhye region, Yulia Gubanova, lived in Moscow, but in 2020 she went to work in Sevastopol at the invitation of Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev. And in May 2022, she was called “to come for a cup of coffee in the Zaporozhye region and talk,” and there she realized that “she could serve her homeland.” But in the future I would like to take a higher position, Mrs. Gubanova admitted: “As long as my homeland needs me there, I will be there. Therefore, I hope we will begin to move the borders, and there will be a need for even more managers… Why not become the governor of the Odessa region?”

Finally, the head of the Petrozavodsk center for organizing the work of railway stations, Alexander Shchapov, wants to remain in the structures of Russian Railways. At one time, he preferred the faculty of transportation process management to oil refining precisely because of the presence of the word “management” in the title. “I used to dream of retiring, even setting out strategic goals for myself, from the position of head of the railway. But times change, management skills change. Now I would like to retire from the position of First Deputy General Director of Russian Railways,” said the contestant modestly, who at that moment did not yet know that he would be one of the winners.

The organizers of the competition from the ANO “Russia – Land of Opportunities” also have their own plans. Its general director, rector of RANEPA Alexey Komissarov, answering a question from a Kommersant correspondent at the press approach, admitted that he is a supporter of meritocracy. “Meritocracy translates as “the rule of the worthy,” and this is the principle by which people are promoted to positions based on talent, competencies, knowledge, and not, for example, by birth or some other indicator. It seems to me that this is a very important principle,” explained Mr. Komissarov, noting that both the “school of governors” and the “school of mayors” work on this principle. However, meritocracy also has critics who say that people’s talents are at least difficult to evaluate, he added. Kommersant also asked the rector whether meritocracy is consistent with democracy. “This is an interesting question,” thought Alexey Komissarov. “Democracy also has its advantages and limitations, and we see this in some Western countries, when populists and not the most worthy people come to power.” Based on the first part of the answer, it might seem that Mr. Komissarov separates these two systems, but in the end he tried to combine them: “The main principle that should exist is openness and commitment to democratic procedures, but at the same time assessment and the possibility of advancement based on professional qualities “

Andrey Vinokurov