LESSONS FROM THE ‘WILD EAST’ 289newer generations is only just beginning to be seen. Preliminary hints
suggest that the effects will be for the better.
The Supremacy of Friendship
Because of this legacy of fear, Russians sometimes come across as cold
and harsh in their dealings with outsiders, but when a person has been
accepted into their private sphere, they are capable of great warmth.
Russians make deep personal friendships. In fact, the Russian language
has a variety of words for ‘ friend, ’ depending on the closeness of the
relationship (Dabars and Vokhmina, 1995 ). Russians value close friend-
ships highly, setting great store by those they honor as druzya — the
closest of friends. Such relationships are a compensation for the cold
impersonality and unpredictability of public life. They are a kind of
social insurance, serving as part of a mutual - support system and offering
an outlet for frustrations. The intense nature of their friendships means
that Russians will go to extraordinary lengths to help their friends,
making great sacrifi ces for those in their trusted circle.
The importance of friendship also affects Russian business dealings.
While American and northern European executives are more task - than
relationship - oriented, Russians feel a need to develop relationships in
order to accomplish tasks successfully. For them, it is not the enterprise
that counts, but the people in the enterprise. Whatever Russians do,
friends come fi rst. Since they see business and friendship as closely inter-
twined, they like to create networks of friends in their business dealings.
Not surprisingly, then, new business is most often the result of references
given by friends and acquaintances. Furthermore, Russians believe in
bending the rules to help a friend: social obligations take priority over
everything else. They take a contingency approach to rules, in other
words, how they apply rules depends on the situation. Personal loyalty
is much more important than fair play.
Emotional Expression
As noted earlier, Russians are characterized by great emotional expres-
siveness. They can be extremely cold, controlled, and even rude in a
public setting, but can exude great warmth among friends. They can be
melancholic and apathetic at certain times, while exuding tremendous
vitality at others. They can shift abruptly from serious introspection,
self - doubt, and self - torment to total exuberance, abolishing all bounds