Looking for inspiration from a tough guy? Forget Attila the Hun. What did he know about wiretaps?
Patton? Sure, he was tough, but he had a license to kill. How long would he last running an operation outside of the law?
Don Corleone, now that's tough. And he understood business. What did Ulysses Grant know about income tax evasion?
Organized crime-real and imagined-is the last great untapped bastion of professional management and leadership advice in America. And in an era when a whole genre of books has emerged collecting the advice of pseudo-business leaders, why not get the real thing from the men who run some of the most successful and enduring businesses on Earth?
You don't have to be a gangster to appreciate the wit and wisdom of Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, or John Gotti. And you don't even have to know who Tony Soprano is to know he understands how the world works a lot better than the average CEO.
What do I know about tough guys?
I'm no wiseguy. I've never killed a person or even pulled the trigger of a gun. But I did write a book called "Mean Business" for the corporate equivalent of John Gotti-"Chainsaw" Al Dunlap.
Including the words of pretend Mafioso such as Tony Soprano and Don Corleone is appropriate because so many of today's gangsters take their cues from The Godfather movies. Even mob turncoat Sammy "The Bull" Gravano couldn't believe Mario Puzo made the whole Godfather saga up. "He knew too much," Gravano says.
Here is blunt and sometimes lighthearted wisdom from the most recognized mobsters of the modern age. Each is followed by a brief and breezy interpretation of inspirations you can't refuse.
(A version of this material appeared under the title "Wiseguy Wisdom" in Context magazine, February 2001. It was also referenced in the January 2002 issue of Inc. magazine in the story "Managing From A to Z," under the letter "O is for Organized Crime.")
(c) 2001 by Bob Andelman. All Rights Reserved. No portion may be reproduced without the express written permission of the author.
Sample Chapter: