The classic film The Godfather offers valuable lessons for teamwork, making difficult decisions, and how to be successful without neglecting family and friends.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Justin Moore, CEO and founder of Axcient, says senior business executives and the mafia boss Vito Corleone, the central figure in the film The Godfather, have much in common.
The employer thinks that The Godfather is one of the best movies of all time and there are 5 lessons of leadership, which it lists for Fastcompany.com:
1. Build a powerful community
By granting favors and helping people with their problems, the "Don" of the Mafia developed "a network of influences," a web of relations that may not bring immediate and measurable results but, "could together strengthen his power base and have the potential to be reciprocal in the long term."
Building strategic partnerships enables companies to operate in difficult markets and reach success faster.
2. Make people accountable.
The Godfather reminds us of the importance of being tough when necessary. "As soon as Vito Corleone let his enemies see some moments of weakness, they tried to kill him. It was in large part due to the failures of his team," says Moore.
"In business, accountability is not achieved by criminal methods. But the lesson is this: to be successful in business you have to be tough, and you must focus heavily on achieving objectives and results", says Moore. "You are ultimately responsible for all your employees and shareholders and that requires hard and fast decisions."
3. Do not be emotional.
Moore uses here the famous line by Michael Corleone: "It's not personal, Sonny. It's Strictly Business”.
The author argues that many people do not like to talk about the fact that in business there are winners and losers. "If you do not take the opportunity to sell more, provide more or take your competitors out of the market, they will do so to you. (...) When people make emotional decisions, they start making bad decisions."
4. Be decisive.
Moore views the Godfather with a combination of shock and respect. "Shock because he (Michael Corleone) is so relentless and kills a family member, respect because Don Corleone knew exactly what he wanted, managed decisively and gained respect through strong leadership."
5. Spend time with your family.
Moore was not in favor the 100-hour working weeks that many entrepreneurs put in in search of great achievements, and having experienced it first hand, he believes that it is not sustainable in the long term.
"A leader can not succeed in creative problem solving and excellent decision making unless that person is connected to the people and passions outside of work. I find that often time with my family and friends is what gives me the perspective needed to build relationships and take decisive actions required for continued success in business," says Moore.
Great business owners become great based on their actions. Intentions are meaningless. Words are important. Results are everything.
Consistently accomplish these five functions and you, your company -- and most importantly your employees -- all reap the benefits. Fail at these five functions and no matter how hard you work, you and your business will eventually fall short. argues Jeff Haden in Money Watch on cbsnews.com.
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Successful entrepreneurs - those creatures that we are all now viewing as essential to save the world economy from its troubles - come from different countries, societies, cultural backgrounds and business sectors. There is no single or particular stereotype, however, these individuals have several things in common.
Success is not a destination but a journey without end, which requires a positive attitude, team playing mentality, a mindset for continuous improvement and responsible outlook.
With over 20 years of experience as an executive of IBM, in the ever turbulent business environments of Latin America, the engineer Enrique Baliño says the success is not a destination but a journey without end, and that successful people have to develop four key attitudes: positivity, team playing, continuous improvement and accountability.
The ability to recover from a failure is essential in order to be successful. But what if you have never failed?
Suzanne Lucas, on her blog at Bnet.com, discusses how new generations of graduates are too used to being successful, to finding things easy, which can lead them potentially to collapse when things get out of their comfort zone.
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