Catherine the Great Quotes
I praise loudly; I blame softly.
Catherine II ("The Great"), 1729-1796, Empress of Russia, Quoted in Evdokimov, The Complete Works of Catherine II, 1893
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
When politicians and appointees deviate from this principle, they end up with a much more difficult management problem. One of the complaints of elected politicians often is that the executive is not exercising accountability, but if it is exercised publicly, the morale effect is devastating.
We all have 20-20 hindsight, and sometimes well analyzed decisions turn out badly as the result of unfortunate circumstances.
Ironically it was the old Chinese culture of the Emperors where public official mistakes were generally paid for with the official’s life. However, there is a tendency the world over for the public to demand someone to be punished or fired. Often the easiest way for a politician with administrative responsibility to blunt that responsibility is to fire some subordinates or demote or otherwise punish them. In Taiwan they have a demerit system. The leader must take the responsibility for the failure. Many politicians (and business executives) observe that there are thousands of subordinates and that they cannot be held responsible for the errors that any of them make. While the do not want the responsibility, they are the first to claim the credit if anything goes right. If an employee should be fired, then do so, but as this quotation observes to meet out discipline in response to criticism is reprehensible.
Catherine II, most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was empress regnant of All Russia from 1762 until 1796 – the country's longest-ruling female leader. She came to power following a coup d'état that overthrew her husband and second cousin, Peter III. Under her reign, Russia grew larger, its culture was revitalised, and it was recognized as one of the great powers of Europe.
