Empress Catherine the Great of Russia (r. 1729-1796) is part of history’s extremely small club of super talented and successful female political leaders. She considered herself both a fan of the Enlightenment and an autocrat – like other women in her situation, she was aware her position would constantly be threatened because of her gender, and she knew that to be a leader, she would have to play a complex chess game that sometimes called for brutal action, and all times necessitated sophisticated alliance-making skills. “I may be kindly; I am ordinarily gentle,” she once wrote, “but in my line of business I am obliged to will terribly what I will at all.” One of Catherine’s witticisms particularly highlights the way she must have constantly recognized her tenuous position — “A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache.” It’s a pretty good reflection to take for anyone facing a challenge – which means that all of us have something in common with this centuries-deceased Russian leader.
