"Years of life – years of troubles and victories..." (about the work biography of the outstanding head of the USSR railway transport Nikolai Alekseevich Gundobin)

The relevance . The selection of qualified management personnel for the field of public administration and production organization in modern conditions is a problem that requires a systematic approach. Decades of permanent reform of all spheres of public life have only aggravated the crisis of management at all levels of administrative and power relations. Attempts to solve this problem through adaptive educational and training methods do not bring the expected results. One of the reasons for the current situation is the lack of necessary professional and life experience among those who fill senior positions. In this regard, the experience of the Soviet personnel policy is very instructive and effective. A typical example of successful leadership of such a strategically important branch of the state as railway transport should be considered the biography of the First Deputy Minister of Railways of the USSR N.A. Gundobin, restored by the authors. The purpose of the study is to present a typical image of an industry leader at the state level of the mid – second half of the twentieth century on the example of a historical reconstruction of the biography of the former First Deputy Minister of Railways of the USSR N.A. Gundobin. Objectives : to identify the features of the management of domestic railway transport in the period under study; to reveal the role of N.A. Gundobin in the organization of railway transportation and modernization of the industry. Methodology . The research was based on the principles of objectivity and historicism. The research tasks were solved by the authors through historical-genetic, historical-biographical, historical-systemic and retrospective methods. Results . The analysis of the source base identified by the authors provided an opportunity to reconstruct the historical portrait of N.A. Gundobin, reflecting his role in the organization of railway transportation, showing the personal and business qualities of the head of the state level. Conclusions. Exceptional professionalism, hard work, responsible attitude to business and respect for subordinates became the key qualities of N.A. Gundobin's personality, which allowed him to hold a senior position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR for several decades. Such characteristics must be matched by modern managers who seek to bring real benefits to the Russian state and its people.