Don Corleone : Do you have faith in my judgment?

Clemenza : Yes.

Don Corleone: Do I have your loyalty?

Clemenza : Yes, always Godfather.

Don Corleone: Then be a friend to Michael, and do as he says.

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972)

AMERICAN film director Francis Ford Coppola’s opus The Godfather, is a remarkable study of leadership, organisational structure and the exercise of power. Some say it is an allegory of corporate America in the 20th century.

Like Michael Corleone, Andrew Holness had leadership unexpectedly thrust upon him at a young age and was not even regarded as a likely successor to head a venerable organisation.

Michael, the youngest son of Don Vito Corleone, was a clean-cut idealist who enlisted in the Second World War and wanted nothing to do with the family’s nefarious business activities. His elder brother Sonny was more temperamentally suited and was clearly earmarked to follow the wily Don Vito Corleone as the head of the family.

When the Don is shot (though not fatally) by assassins and his brother Sonny is murdered, Michael willfully assumes leadership of the Corleone family with the Don remaining in semi-retirement.

It is incumbent on Michael to quickly establish his leadership credentials and the cadre of lieutenants who will assist in establishing and building the family’s interests.

With seasoned professionals – meaning murderers, gangsters and corrupt operators in his milieu, he has to make it clear quickly that he is not a weak, effete vacuous leader, who can easily be rendered asunder.

Andrew Holness is not given to verbosity and grandiloquent posturing. He, too, is cerebral and measured in his approach and many saw that as a weakness that they could take advantage of. Just like with Michael Corleone, that error in judgment proved to be their undoing.

A new leader must quickly and clearly set out his or her objectives and the team that will see to its execution. Michael Corleone was determined to take the family into more lucrative, legitimate enterprises (hotels, gaming etc) and Holness wants to shepherd Jamaica into an era of transformational politics and see the return of a JLP administration. Their respective missions are unequivocal, but it needs an officer corps to see to its implementation.

When Michael assumes his new role, he sets out clearly who will be his key executives and why.

Michael: There are negotiations being made that are going to answer all your questions and solve all of your problems. That’s all I can tell you right now. Carlo, you grew up in Nevada. When we make our move there, you’re going to be my right-hand man. Tom Hagen is no longer Consigliari. He’s going to be our lawyer in Vegas. That’s no reflection on Tom, it’s just the way I want it. Besides, if I ever need help who’s a better Consigliari than my father? That’s it!

(Everyone except Hagen leaves the room)

Tom Hagen: Mike, why am I out?

Michael: You’re not a war-time Consigliari, Tom. Things could get rough with the move we’re making.

Don Corleone: Tom, I advised Michael. I never thought you were a bad Consigliari. I thought Santino was a bad Don, rest in peace. Michael has all my confidence, as do you. But there are reasons why you must have nothing to do with what’s going to happen.

Tom Hagen: Maybe I could help.

Michael: (Looking Tom squarely in the eye) You’re out, Tom.

If Holness were vanquished by Shaw, he would have remained on the periphery of the party. He may have been appointed shadow spokesperson on Education because he acquitted himself well as minister of that portfolio, but he would have no doubt been relegated to political Hades. It’s not personal, it’s strictly business.

Andrew Holness moved quickly to establish his team, rewarding loyalty and smartly ensuring that, for now at least, he doesn’t have to pull knives out of his back. He also, like Michael, looks to an experienced mentor who has been there — in his case — the former JLP leader Edward Seaga as his “Consigliari,” a man who effected the ” One Don” practice for decades and presided over a JLP administration that brought great social programmes and economic stability.

Once Tom Hagen is ousted as Consigliari, he accepts his new role and his loyalty to Michael and the family remains steadfast. He takes the opportunity to make it clear to associates that Michael is now the head of the family and is the primary decision-maker of the family’s affairs.

Michael tells Moe Greene that the family will be acquiring his hotel, much to Greene’s indignation. Michael’s oldest brother, Fredo, the family black sheep, attempts to intercede, attempting to solicit the help of Tom Hagen.

Fredo: Wait a minute, Moe, I got an idea. Tom, you’re the Consiglieri and you can talk to the Don, you can explain…

Tom Hagen: Now hold it right there. The Don is semi-retired and Mike is in charge of the family business now. If you have anything to say, say it to Michael.

When the leader establishes his new team, everyone should accept and play their respective positions. It does not behoove Arthur Williams, Bobby Montague et al to resist the leader and hold onto positions that Holness clearly does not want them to have. To the victor go the spoils. The decision as to who holds what is always the preserve of the leader and if one does not understand that, then one is woefully naïve or exhibits hubris of such proportions to feel one can challenge and usurp the leader.

There were leading personalities within the JLP, who were of the opinion that Holness would preside over the party’s prolonged absence from power and that he was out of touch with public sentiment. They challenged his leadership and resoundly lost.

The vanquished are invariably made prisoners of war or are eliminated. That has been the way of man since the dawn of time. Yes, there are those such as Cyrus the Great who take a different tack. Yes, Portia Simpson Miler did appoint Peter Phillips as minister of finance and sought to have him take a seat at the epicentre of power. Obama subscribed to Doris Kearns-Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals, which tells of how US President Abraham Lincoln recruited into his Cabinet those who had openly opposed him.

Those are exceptions and not the norm.

There is an argument that Holness may well end up fracturing the party with half of it coalescing around Audley Shaw and Daryl Vaz. Holness must, however, give the JLP a defined objective and establish his leadership style. The oldest biblical story tells of the War in Heaven with Satan, God’s most loyal angel, staging a coup, which saw him vanquished and discarded to the pits of hell.

A leader has to anticipate where dissension that can mutate into a coup is likely to come from. Some in the organisation have such unquenchable ambitions that their subjectivity stands to the detriment of the organisation.

With both Sonny and the Godfather gone, the other mafia families planned to do away with Michael and remove the Corleone family as a viable competitor. They sought and gained the support of key Corleone operatives in this endeavour. Again, they regarded Michael as weak and effete, not made of the right stuff, the same assumption made of Holiness.

Tom Hagen: You know how they’re going to come at you?

Michael: They want to arrange a meeting between me and Barzini. On Tessio’s ground. Where I’ll be safe.

Tom Hagen: Tessio, I always thought it would be Clemenza.

Michael : It’s the smart move. Tessio was always smarter. But I am going to wait. After the baptism. I have decided to be Godfather to Connie’s baby and then I’ll meet with Don Barzini and Tattaglia – all the heads of the Five Families.

Once the coup fails and rebellion put down, one must accept defeat like a man and even exhibit grace. It is most unbecoming to cry and remain indignant after losing. Both Audley Shaw and Delroy Chuck showed their calibre in defeat and many could learn from them.

Again in The Godfather, after Michael has done away with his enemies he sets about cleaning house, which serves as a salutary lesson to the other Corleone operatives. Michael proves not to be weak and incapable of exhibiting strength. He can fight and take on and defeat his enemies. He can usher the Corleone family into a new dawn. He makes dead brother Sonny proud.

Tessio accepts his fate quietly despite beseeching Tom Hagen to intercede on his behalf and spare his life. He does not cry and lose his composure unlike his fellow betrayer Carlo Rizzi, Michael’s brother-in-law. Tessio goes quietly into the night.

Tessio : (to Hagen, on realising it is the end of the road for him) Tell Mike it was only business. I always liked him.

Tom Hagen: He understands that.

Willi Cici: (removing Tessio’s gun) Excuse me, Sally.

Tessio: Can you get me off the hook, Tom? For old times’ sake?

Tom Hagen: (shakes his head) Can’t do it, Sally.

(Hagen watches sadly as Tessio is led by Cici and others to a waiting car to what is a certain death. Tessio does so stoically).

Compare Tessio’s exit with the snivelling Carlo Rizzi, afraid to accept his fate.

Michael : You have to answer for Santino, Carlo. You fingered Sonny for the Barzini people.

Carlo Rizzi: Mike, you got it all wrong.

Michael: Ah, that little farce you played with my sister. You think that would fool a Corleone?

Carlo Rizzi: (Crying and whimpering. Losing his dignity before Michael) Please don’t do this to me, Mike. Please don’t.

Michael: Barzini is dead. So is Phillip Tattaglia. Moe Greene. Stracci. Cuneo. Today, I settled all family business, so don’t tell me that you’re innocent. Admit what you did.

(Carlo starts sobbing)

Michael: Get him a drink. Don’t be araid, Carlo. Come on, you think I’d make my sister a widow. I’m godfather to your son.

(Carlo gets handed a drink)

Michael: Go ahead. Drink. Drink. No, you’re out of the family business, that’s your punishment. You’re finished. I’m putting you on a plane to Vegas. Tom?

( Tom hands Carlo an airplane ticket)

Michael: I want you to stay there, you understand? Only don’t tell me you are innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and it makes me very angry. Now who approached you first? Barzini or Tattaglia?

Carlo Rizzi: It was Barzini.

Michael: Good. There’s a car outside that will take you to the airport. I’ll call your wife and tell her what flight you’re on.

Carlo Rizzi: Listen, Mike…

Michael: Go on. Get out of my sight!

( Carlo Rizzi is led out to a car where he is garroted by Clemenza for his betrayal and treachery. A most gruesome death.)

Mike Myatt, a leading Forbes columnist and a leadership advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs, in an article entitled “Leadership and Loyalty”, writes: “If relationships are the currency of leadership, it is important for leaders to note that loyalty serves as the cornerstone of any healthy relationship. Leadership and loyalty go hand-in-hand. In fact, so much so that leaders who fail to understand that simply won’t endure the test of time. While successful leaders share many common traits, all great leaders have one thing in common — they are not only adept at earning the loyalty of those they lead, but also recognise that loyalty is a two-way street. When it comes to loyalty, the simple rule is that you will not receive what you will not give.”

It is often said that Andrew Holness is not a charismatic leader, but Jamaica has never truly prospered under charismatic leaders. Michael Manley and Portia Simpson Miller readily spring to mind.

Edward Seaga and PJ Patterson took a cerebral, strategic approach eschewing the song-and-dance pantomime that passes for charisma. Their respective legacies will endure.

Michael Corleone, like his father, was not considered a charismatic leader, but both guided their organisation to unimaginable heights. It is doubtful whether the charismatic and volatile Sonny Corleone could have accomplished the same.

“Charisma is defined in its origins as a social phenomenon and as a “magical gift” possessed by leaders. Followers of charismatic leaders typically emulate or strongly identify with the leader. The transformational leader, in contract, inspires followers to pursue organisational goals in lieu of self-interests.

Charismatic leaders foster dependency relationships with followers, relying on commitment and unquestioned obedience. Transformational leaders seek to lift individuals from idolising the individual to directing followers’ commitment and energies toward the organisation and its goals.

” Transformational leaders cultivate employees’ acceptance of the work group mission. Followers typically strive to emulate transformational, placing faith in their leader’s judgment, as well as the mission at hand. They support the leader’s values and typically adopt them, and frequently develop strong emotional ties to the organisation’s mission,” says John E Barbuto Jr of the University of Nebraska.

The US Navy Seal’s creed is :”My loyalty to country and team is beyond reproach.” Both Andrew Holness and Michael Corleone place great stock in loyalty and those who cannot pledge fealty find themselves outside the fold as outcasts.

Is it better to be loved than feared? I leave you to ponder that one. Until.