Ten years ago, the owners and managers of Russian companies considered "meeting the right people" to be the most important quality that helped them achieve success in business, according to a VTsIOM poll. Today, representatives of the Russian business elite put useful connections only in eighth place. And the leader is professionalism is on the list of the most important qualities.

At the end of last year, specialists from the headhunting company Rosexpert and the Association of Managers of Russia surveyed more than 170 top managers and owners of large companies from various industries. Respondents were asked to rank a number of criteria according to their importance in business. It turned out that today businessmen consider the main reason for their success professional qualities. Next in descending order are leadership qualities, professional achievements, education, and communication skills. Business contacts were only in eighth place, slightly ahead of such factors as gender and age.

The authors of the current study believe that the devaluation of business and personal connections in business is explained by the growth of competition. According to Sergey Martyanov, managing partner of Rosexpert, this process has been going on at different speeds in different industries. Earlier than others, about seven years ago, companies operating in system integration, then, after the default of 1998, this process began in the banking business, two years ago - in insurance. Now it is actively underway in the retail market, where domestic companies are forced to become more active due to competition with international retail giants.

"In a situation where foreign or more qualified Russian managers are sitting in competing companies, shareholders are forced to make a decision to change managers," says Sergei Martyanov. In such a situation, the abilities and connections of the founding fathers are often no longer sufficient for competitiveness.

However, the founding fathers themselves do not agree with this assessment. "How can we say that business contacts are less important than education and professionalism?" asks Igor Strelnikov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Angstrem Group. In his opinion, the listed criteria are largely interrelated: education and professionalism, communication skills and business contacts. "Therefore, it is not even correct to consider them separately. In a successful manager, they are present inseparably," Strelnikov is convinced.

Leonid Zabezhinsky, deputy general director for organizational development at IBS, one of those who started this business in the early 90s, shares a similar point of view. "It seems to me that different meanings are simply attached to what was called business connections then and now," he says. - Ten years ago there was no market, everything was built on connections, mutual trust. But the bigger the market, the more natural it is to interact with strangers in order to expand the business."

And according to the well-known entrepreneur, president of the Spasskie Vorota group Boris Khait, the importance of business connections in this study is underestimated. He says that he would have put this criterion in first place. "Perhaps, when people assessed the criteria, by business contacts they meant what used to be called "blat," says Boris Khait. "That's not true. Business contacts are the ability to communicate." According to Khait, the success of top management today is, first of all, success in negotiation processes. The manager convinces his counterparties, partners and even colleagues in how to conduct business. "Let's say you are negotiating the purchase of a business. And the one who will persuade you to accept his price and find the right arguments will be successful. So, the ability to make your opponent think in your categories and stand on your "This is success," Boris Khait is convinced.

He does not deny that professionalism is very important. "But the first person of the company is not obliged to possess it to the extent that it is needed by the performer, the same financial director, etc., - explains Boris Khait. - The first person in a certain sense is political figure, and for him the ability to persuade and establish contacts, including with colleagues and subordinates, is most important. Doing this in an authoritarian manner - and this is an exclusively leadership function - is no longer possible today. And when someone says that professionalism is "Okay, leadership qualities are good, but business contacts are bad and not important, then this is wrong."

However, the authors of the study also admit that the ability to negotiate with the right people from other companies in their segment, the government and the Duma is in demand today. But, in their opinion, these skills are gradually taking on other forms and the former president of the company can be seen in the role of head of an industry lobbying group. organizations. "They know a lot about business, they are embedded in some human relationships, positions or even pseudo-management companies are created for them and they are promoted to vice presidents," says Sergei Martyanov. "This is observed in almost any large business. They They seem to be involved, but they are not responsible for operational management, profit, or results."

However, in small businesses, business connections remain the most important factor for success. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the Independent Institute of Social and National Problems among Russian small entrepreneurs and experts. Personal connections in local government bodies, law enforcement and regulatory agencies (Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision, Fire Inspection, etc.) . p.) took third, fourth and fifth place, respectively, in terms of importance for a successful start-up of a business after a special entrepreneurial disposition and start-up capital. "The scale of problems of large and small businesses is different," says the director of the institute, Alexander Chepurenko. "Small businesses need to it was checked less frequently, which means that a good relationship with the official who controls the given industry is needed." In addition to this, small firms operate in a limited market and are forced to focus on an established circle of partners and, as a result, value their connections. But when these companies grow, then their managers, if we are to believe the research of Rosexpert and the Association of Managers, will forget how they valued their connections and will attribute their success to their professionalism.

Blat is no longer relevant