“5 Leadership Lessons from…” is a short 3 blog series designed to take key leadership elements from some of the most popular TV shows and how they may apply in day to day situations. The blogs explore the immediate leadership lessons, how the characters worked through them and what key takeaways exist for the reader.
Read the series:
1. 5 Leadership Lessons from… The Sopranos
2. 5 Leadership Lessons from… Star Trek
3. 5 Leadership Lessons from… Peaky Blinders
5 Leadership lessons from… The Sopranos
The Sopranos is arguably one of the best TV shows of all time. The show followed Tony Soprano through both families lives – that of his biological family and that of his crew of organised gangsters. Over the series, there were plenty of leadership gems contained throughout. We cover 5 of these in this edition of the series.
- Obey the same rules you expect others to follow
Leaders don’t always appreciate the impact they can have on their followers. Leaders are watched by their teams more often than they realise and this means that they are picking up subtle clues from the leader and making their own decisions about what they feel matters. When they see their leader flouting certain rules, it may send a signal that the rule isn’t as important and that they can flout it too.
For example, Tony Soprano often referred to Christopher Moltisanti’s drug habit, and yet often dabbled in them himself. This hypocritical behaviour was often a source of friction between the pair.
A leader must lead by example and set the boundaries, ensuring all follow them.
2. Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight
A leader needs to understand their team’s strengths and weaknesses and how they may react to certain situations. In the same way you wouldn’t take a knife to a gunfight, as they say, you’d prefer to leverage certain skillsets and attributes over others depending on the situation you’re in.
This means that as a leader, it is important to get to know your team, what makes them tick, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. A leader will both use their strengths to accomplish tasks but also promote the improvement of any weaknesses.
3. Give your team a slice of the action
Share the spoils. It is important to celebrate the wins with the team and as the leader, the team will look to you for the acknowledgement of a job well done. Nothing is ever perfect, but leaders should always give credit where it’s due. And, if there was a major win, this should be celebrated, and the rewards shared amongst the team.
At the peak of the Sopranos operations, there was a lot of money flowing upwards, a lot of gifts and favours to the men at the top, but those at the bottom were still expected to pay their way and had little in the way of rewards. Although now and again Tony would give praise, sometimes it came to a head such as when Christopher Moltisanti and Paulie Gualtieri argued it out over the dinner tab. And, while Chris was junior to Paulie and was always ‘expected’ to pay, there were times where the leader should have shared some of the team’s winnings as a reward.
By not sharing some of the winnings that the team make, they may become disheartened and feel their efforts are not worth what they do get, and this can impact operations. After all, no one wants to stick their neck out for nothing.
4. Your family and theirs is important
Family is always first, and no matter how hard the Mob may try to say it’s their business family first, the actual families of those involved would ultimately win. Be it Tony’s kids and their issues, a wayward girlfriend or an aging parent, oftentimes various Mobsters would need to go and take care of their families.
Family often drives people so for leaders, this should be respected. It can be tricky for a work-life balance sometimes and things from home can impact the workplace. A leader who is in touch with their teams will be able to approach and discuss these matters and should be open to letting a team member get their family front sorted so they can be more focused and productive.
5. There is a difference between reward and favouritism
Tony often looked after his immediate command, sharing in some of the spoils the family obtained, involving them in high-level discussions, private family matters, etc. Sometimes the lower-ranking members thought of it as favouritism, but as they moved up started to see the benefit.
With command comes responsibility, and therefore a greater need to ensure they are close and on side. If Tony expected them to carry out his orders, then he needed to be sure his command were loyal and felt trusted. This didn’t mean he neglected others within his outfit, but, it meant that while rank has its responsibility, it also has its privilege.
Leaders must rely on others to help achieve goals, and more often than not there will be more senior or experienced people in a team who have ‘been there and done that’ and can offer up a great deal of insight or action when required. Often, a leader may have these people represent them even in times where they aren’t ‘acting up’. This helps to encourage their development in leadership, builds stronger links between the team on the floor and those moving up and helps to spread the responsibility when needed.
Often, this is why those individuals get a little more freedom or a title change – to reflect the fact they are expected to carry out duties above a usual teammate to achieve the objective, and that there may not be any additional reward to that person at the time for taking on more responsibility. But, for the greater good of the team, and the mutual respect shown through extra trust and privilege means they will do so with less hesitation and do so properly.