The Godfather’s business lessons are still good 50 years on

Don Vito Corleone's succinct phrases could well merit a module taught in the world’s business schools, advises John Daly

Marlon Brandon in a scene from The Godfather, a film with iconic lines that have been adopted by business owners for the past 50 years.

For those looking to gain an edge in the often ruthless world of family business, the advice of Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather film could well merit a module taught in the world’s business schools.

After all, he was the man who famously said: “Lawyers can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks.” 

 The Godfather may have been the head of a criminal empire, but he operated along the most efficient business lines with the family’s needs always prominent. Having dominated cinema screens over half a century ago, The Godfather’s legacy has become an enduring icon of modern culture.

Brian Cox may be the bad-ass boss driving the success of the hugely popular Succession series, but he learned many of his best moves from Marlon Brando’s Godfather. 

“It’s not personal, it’s strictly business,” is now a phrase so ingrained in modern parlance that it crops up repeatedly in situations comic and criminal.

In his book, ‘Everything I Know About Business I Learned From The Godfather’, author Robert Gore says: “Three hours spent watching the iconic Godfather films will teach you more about business than any lecture on industrial strategies, while the novel itself offers more insight into running an organisation than entire libraries of books on management.” 

Robert Gore, author of ‘Everything I Know About Business I Learned From The Godfather’.

 The Godfather novel and movies have received their due as classics of literature and cinema, but they haven’t been credited as a uniquely superior source of instruction and inspiration for both career and life, according to Gore.  “If you’re considering business school this book could save you two years and over $100,000.” 

 Since the film premiered in March 1972, the business wisdom of The Godfather has crossed global borders.

In all of his dealings, Don Vito advised keeping “your friends close and your enemies closer” — a reality many business people would readily agree with. Through downturns and depressions, commandments from the gangster’s bible entered the lexicon — including “revenge is a dish best served cold”. 

 Understanding the motivation of your opponents is key to staying a step ahead of the competition, especially those with a constant desire to eat your lunch.

“A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults” went another polished pearl of the Don’s. A central tenet of the Corleone playbook dictated that a man must be as good as his word — underlined when consigliere Tom Hagen is rebuffed by an obnoxious Hollywood film producer.

“Mr Corleone never asks a second favour once he’s refused the first,” the adviser politely explains — and six hours later the horse’s head turns up in the producer’s bed. Moral of the story: if you’re going to talk the talk, you better be prepared to walk the walk.

“Leadership is at the core of The Godfather, especially those occasions when difficult decisions have to be carried out. Ultimately, the commercial judgment and financial prudence of Don Corleone came down to ice-cool card-playing regardless of the turbulent times. In the white heat of deadly negotiations, the Godfather played his trump card at just the right moment: ‘I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse’.” Done deal.