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Don Corleone and the Art of Management

What business leaders can learn from Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather
NOVEMBER 01, 2012

In 1972, Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather opened in theaters. The movie was nominated for ten Oscars and won
three, including best film. It is still considered a cinematic masterpiece.
Though the movie and the Mario Puzo book it was based on are often labeled crime stories, their roots run much deeper.
Its a study of power, Coppola once remarked. In fact, The Godfather is a treatise on the art of management.
The story teems with violence: adversaries are killed with a shot to the head, strangled in cars, executed in revolving doors,
assassinated during massages. Or they bring a guy around by depositing the head of his favorite horse in his bed. But the
violence is only a backdrop for Puzos theory of gaining and holding onto power through market domination and
organizational structure.
Puzo could just as well have put his theories in a romance novel or a business thriller. His choice of the Mafia world was
coincidence. He had read several books about the Mafia, he said, and they inspired him. He created some things himself
and tried to picture others. The term godfather was relatively obscure before Puzo latched on to it. He discovered the
word in a book about Sicilian family customs and popularized it in his book.
Today, one can watch The Godfather as if it were a modern Machiavellian manual: a collection of cunning rules in immoral
garb. While we in no way want to encourage the behavior of the gangsters in Coppolas movie, the film can provide brilliant
advice for managers in the form of ten commandmentsand one sacred rule.
1. Trust is the foundation of every deal. Never work with people you dont trust. Corleone sends away a drug lord who
infiltrates his territory, even though the gangster offers him 30 percent of his profits for protection.
2. Trading in services is more profitable than trading in money. Whenever possible, Corleone deals in favors rather than
cash, cultivating personal loyalties that are worth more than cash. And because he always pays his partners first, his
balance is always goodeverybody owes him. Thus he can call in favors at any time without running up his own debts.
3. Never turn down a chance to do a favor for someone. And only ask for a favor once. The less often you call in your
favors, the better the economy functions. Then you can rest assured that your requests will never be turned down.
4. Hierarchy is important. If Don Corleones status as godfather were disregarded, his decisions would not have the same
weight. The Godfather is affable but not democratic. He lets others emphasize his rank so he doesnt have to do it himself.
5. Dont take it personallyits only business. Thats what killers say right before they shoot, and it's what a paterfamilias
says just after he betrays his best friend. In business, taking attacks personally can cloud ones judgment. Cooler heads
typically prevail.
6. Dont let anyone outside the family find out what you really think. Corleone confides his doubts and musings to no one
apart from the closest members of the family. The consistency of his behavior makes him predictable, and his
predictability strengthens his influence.
7. Every so often, the competition will force a purge. Dont try to avoid conflicttake it on. In The Godfather, two New York
families are in intense competition. They both have their own territories, but each nevertheless tries to squeeze the other
out of the market. Every year, their tactics become more brutal. A major conflict ensues, and then they make peace. The
families remember their shared values and agree on a code of conduct. Mario Puzo, in this case, is a true market liberal:
its not the forces of orderthe police, that isthat make the rules; its the market participants.
8. Recognize market shifts early and respond to them swiftly. Corleone got rich with gambling and prostitution, but he
knows that the drug business will destroy him in the years to come. Because he fears damaging his own business,
however, he fails to act aggressively in response to the growing demand for a new product with better margins. In the end,
he loses both the old market and the new.
9. Transfer full power to your successor, support him unconditionally, and defer to him. When Vito Corleone exits the
stage, his son Michael is fully empowered. The old man enthusiastically welcomes each of the young mans decisions,
sends all advice seekers directly to him, and passes out his own advice only in private. He avoids making the mistake of
many company patriarchs, who often have trouble letting go.
10.

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Power seeps away. Defend yourself against small defeats. The Godfather stumbles when the competition poaches a
couple of lower-level employees. The betrayal weakens his aura of invincibility. The competition takes note of this and
makes overtures to members of the Godfathers inner circleand the downward spiral begins.
One rule is sacred, and death is the punishment for whoever breaks it: Never dishonor your family. Translated for
managers, this means, Your loyalty belongs to those who pay you. Their interests are your interests.
Based on an essay by Christoph Keese for the Financial Times Germany and used with permission of the author.

Copyright 2013 The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.

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