The Leadership in the Institutional System of Rural Development Policy: The Results of the Empirical Study in Krasnodar Region

There is a lack of explanatory models and analytical tools for studying the role of intangible resources in rural development. Based on the results of theoretical modeling and empirical data from independent field studies, the article identifies and characterizes the leadership potential in the institutional system of rural development in the Krasnodar region. The multilevel analysis of leadership as an important component of intangible resources for rural development reveals the considerable potential of a set of resources (human, personal, professional, network, and institutional), which at present is not fully realized in the system of rural development institutions in the Krasnodar region. Leadership as an intangible development resource achieves the greatest effect when it comes to the creation of leadership communities and the institutional practices of their functioning as territorial development institutions. Regional and local identity act as the foundation and significant factors determining the leaders’ orientation towards involvement in the territorial development policies and building systems of human capital formation in rural communities, which can become one of the main directions for regional development strategies.