How to understand Russians

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the certified trainer at Cross-Cultural Communications Centre in Russian Federation, have said a few words about a Russian culture profile for Russian Sphinx. Svetlana Kuznetsova is a high level professional in the sphere of forming the image of Russia abroad, developing the cross-cultural Communications' effectiveness. As well, she is a developer of her own methods in the sphere of political and business processes.

1.      Can you sketch in few words a Russian national cultural profile?

Speaking on Russian national cultural profile it would be wise to firstly make a list of typical Russian characteristics.

Usually foreigners quite easily list the main Russian features such as pessimism, fatalism, collectivism, people-orientation, etc. Most of them together with Russian originals acknowledge that sense of pride or Mother Russia attitude is the most distinctive trait of the Russian character.

Even though many features of Russian mentality are rather obvious and might be seen from the first glance, there are many of them that are hidden from the eyes of outsiders. For example, volya (a kind of freedom) justice, and self-sacrifice.

In general, Russian NCP is not such simple and well-detective thing. It is rather complicated and takes time to be explored.

2.      What are the most common mistakes in business communication with Russian business partners made by foreigners?

In my view, there are few of them.

The first one is the overstatement of Soviet Era influence on the contemporary Russia existence. Russian behavior patterns both in everyday and business life have their roots far beyond the 20-th century and, just could not be boiled down to Soviet period. In addition, there are many things from that time history which form the National Pride even for the modern generations. All this is about values. Do not ruin them explaining that the values of yours are better. 

The second problem the foreigner might meet here is trying to behave the same way as Russians do. Bear in mind that suspiciousness towards foreigners is a black hole and also typical Russian feature. So, the excessive reliance to the Russian partners might become an unpleasant surprise in the future. It is better to follow the Russian rule: Trust and Check!

And the third one, probably, the most serious mistake is trying to do business without establishing the personal contacts. Russia has very people-oriented culture, so without personal trust between partners no one will be ready to run business together.

3.      What kind of problems can face a foreign manager working with Russian subordinates?

All of them are connecting with Russian NCP and generally have nothing to do with major business practices. I will name only the most common, such as passivity, responsibility avoidance, deadlines’ breaking up, lateness and delays, fear of change, etc.

4.      How to motivate Russians?

Usually Russians are motivated with three things:

1) Great and challenging aims with the impact for the nation as a whole

2) Self-development including possibility to learn

3) Flexibility in time use

5.      Russians are known as hard negotiators. What is the most surprising for foreign negotiators?

In my view, more often than not, foreigners are not ready for the ambivalent strategies of Russians during negotiations. Being very theatrical Russians are able to play different roles at various levels of negotiations. They may choose the “sit it out” tactic and if necessary are able to change it in a flash to the immediate deal strategy.

6.      How to negotiate with Russians?

Actually, it is impossible to teach the negotiation with Russians in the interview format. Here I will give the only one tip for foreigners: never think that money is a key motivator for Russians at the negotiation.

7.      Which rules should foreign partners follow to build good communication with Russians?

I call them the “Golden rules” for interacting with Russians. Below is the list of them:

1) Establish personal relations

2) Respect the national honor (Mother Russia attitude)

3) Do not take what is said and heard for granted

4) Don`t be greedy, either for yourself or for them

5) Appeal to the feelings of the majority not to the law

6) Indicate your human side – emotions, hopes, aspirations etc.

7) Remember the order of priority: personal relationship, form and appearance, opportunity for financial gain

8.      Which nationalities are the closest to Russian dusha and easily understand Russian culture?

Excepting the former Soviet oriented cultures, my perception is that two group of cultures are relatively more adaptive to Russian culture. The first group includes Germans, Finns and, probably, Swedes because of their previous knowledge and contacts with the Soviet Russia.

The second group’ cultures are close to the Russian one in terms of general attitude towards life. Among them there are Italians, Columbians, and French.

As for the Russian dusha, I doubt that any foreigner is able to perceive it in the real sense. My advice is: just be aware this phenomenon exists in Russia, but do not try to make any conclusions based on your personal perception of it.