The Godfather was a very organized effective leader. Here's some of the tactics he used to keep his work (and family) together.

1. Getting things done,
The Godfather way:
Lessons in organization
from Don Corleone
Joseph Dickerson

2. Introduction
• I’m a big fan of both The Godfather movie and
the Getting things Done (GTD) process
• GTD is really a combination of techniques we
all do to some extent or another, only
formalized and systematized
• Recently re-watching The Godfather, I noted
just how organized Don Vito Corleone was
• So here are some of his approaches I think are
applicable to GTD no matter what your family
business is

3. Delegate to people
you trust.
“Give this to ah, Clemenza. I want reliable people;
people that aren’t gonna be carried away. I’m
mean, we’re not murderers, despite of what this
undertaker says.”
• The Don obviously can’t do everything, so he
built a network of button men and trusted
lieutenants to execute his orders
• If you don’t have a team of top people you
can call upon, start building one

4. Don’t get sloppy.
• We saw the Don got old and start to not
pay attention to the details
• ... And it almost cost him his life
• While you might not have to worry about
hit-men, but you do have to worry about
the quality of your work
• Keep that quality up – it may help you keep
your position

5. Have a trusted advisor.
• The Don always had a consiglieri, someone
who could give him advice on matters both
business and personal
• This is something we ALL need in life – be
it a spouse, a business partner, a friend
• Always have someone close enough and
honest enough to question what you are
doing
• It keeps you humble, and helps you make
better decisions

6. Do your best, but don’t fret
if things don’t work out.
• The Don actually broke this rule, one he
followed throughout his life, towards the end
of his days
• “Not enough time, Michael. Note enough
time.”
• But, if things don’t work out the way you
expect, don’t linger
• There’s plenty of other deals and things to
do – don’t get upset if everything doesn’t
work out 100% of the time.

7. Be prepared to say no.
• We saw this when Don Vito said not to the
Turk about his proposed narcotics deal
• Even though Narcotics was a thing of “the
future”, he saw more downside than
upside to the family business
• He said no, and explained his reasons. Which
brings us to…

8. Do what works for you,
not someone else.
• The Don was a natural leader, and followed his
instincts and gut
• Can you imagine Vito Corleone changing his
ways to fit in? Of course not – he lived his
life his way, and didn’t want to be “dancing on
the string, held by all those big shots.”
• He had a strong sense of what worked for him
and what didn’t
• In other words, to thine own self be true.

9. Pay attention.
• Don Vito, at the meetings of the Five
Families, paid attention to what people said
and to body language.
• This is how he figured out that “Tattaglia’s a
pimp — he never’a could’ve outfought Santino.
But I didn’t know until this day that it was —
Barzini all along…”

10. Be honest.
• Yes, vengeance was taken on the five
families, but if you’ll note Don Vito said that
the peace he brokered would never be
broken “while he was alive.”
• It was, of course, broken after he passed
away
• So, even if you ARE planning vengeance… be
honest about it… even if you aren’t being
completely straightforward

11. Share the success.
• The Don offered favors, but not freely – he
always said that such favors may someday
need to be returned
• This is something that is more of a
networking strategy than an organizational
strategy, but many times to get things done
you need help
• Having favors that can be called in at a
crucial moment is sometimes more
valuable than all the gold in the world

12. More info
• At http://www.josephdickerson.com
• ...on twitter: @josephdickerson
• …or just Google me.