- Mafia dramas can show the importance of a trusted ‘second in command’ for business and organisations
- Film excerpt on Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is a perfect example of ‘shared and distributed leadership’
- Trust and delegation are among the top tips for today’s young leaders
Dramatic characters in The Godfather films and The Sopranos television series help provide an unlikely insight into leadership roles that can be extremely useful to today’s businesses.
The fictional stories about the mafia delve into the role of the ‘second in command’, or right-hand man, which is equally important in the real world of business leadership.
The role of the trusted deputy was explored by Dr Lloyd Parsons, the interim director of MBA programmes at Aston Business School, in the latest episode of the ‘Aston means business' podcast series, presented by journalist Steve Dyson.
He also discussed ‘shared and distributed leadership’, which approaches the subject from a different angle from what he said were “well-established expectations” of what and who leaders should be.
Dr Parsons, who began in the armed forces before working in industry and then pursuing an academic career, said: “The basis of shared leadership is that it isn’t about an individual, it’s far more about a team, a collective, something more akin to a board.”
In that traditional situation, he said you will often still have a “figurehead, a CEO, a managing director”, whereas shared leadership is about trying to dispel some of that so there is a collective. democratic group.
Distributed leadership is slightly different again, he said, with one of the “core cruxes” being that people will step into and out of leadership roles as and when situations dictate.
Dr Parsons said the armed forces can provide some good examples: “Quite often people’s thoughts and understanding of the military is influenced by what they see on television.
“There’s all too much of the drill sergeant shouting at people, the physical training instructor telling people to do press-ups, and too much of that authoritarian-type of approach, whereas there are lots of opportunities for people to contribute and share their knowledge and expertise.”
In the military, he explained, leaders have to be able to delegate, trust and provide orders, “and if we take those things from the military environment there are brilliant lessons we can learn about how to share and delegate”.
Dr Parsons said the 2015 film Steve Jobs, about the Apple co-founder, contained a “brilliant example” of such leadership.
He said during a disagreement with fellow co-founder Steve Woznial, Jobs is challenged: ‘What do you do? You don’t programme anything, you don’t build anything’, to which Jobs replies: ‘I play the orchestra. I am here to bring everything together’.
He said another example was prime minister Boris Johnson during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he is surrounded by his chief medical officer, chief scientist and other advisors at his daily briefings.
Dr Parsons said “followership” was far less known and appreciated: “Everyone wants to be the leader but we want people who can support us as leaders as well. This idea of the trusted advisor, the good second in command, is a role I am a huge fan of.”
He said there were notable examples throughout history and politics, including Gordon Brown, a “very successful” chancellor but one who found it far more challenging when “thrust” into the role of prime minister.
He also references a book called Consiglieri, written by Saatchi & Saatchi deputy chairman Richard Hytner. The word ‘consiglieri’ is derived from counsel or advisor, and he said that this gets picked up in various mafia connotations in films.
“We saw this with Tom Hagen in The Godfather. He is this really enigmatic character who can be that trusted advisor, that right-hand man. We also saw it with Silvio Dante in The Sopranos, advisor to Tony Soprano.
“These roles are super-fascinating; they can lead without necessarily being the figurehead. They pull a lot of strings in the background. In businesses and organisations, if you are a leader, maybe you can consider who is your consiglieri. Who is your right-hand man who will help you to get things done?”
Dr Parsons offered two main tips to today’s young leaders:
“A major one is trust, building it, cultivating it, giving it to other people as well. The second one, which is probably the hardest thing for new leaders, is realising you can’t do it all on your own. There is only so much effort you can put in, only so many hours in a day.”
Episode 7 in series 4 of ‘Aston means business’ podcast can be found here.
- Notes to Editors
Founded in 1895 and a University since 1966, Aston is a long established university led by its three main beneficiaries – students, business and the professions, and our region and society. Aston University is located in Birmingham and at the heart of a vibrant city and the campus houses all the university’s academic, social and accommodation facilities for our students. Saskia Loer Hansen is the interim Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive.
Aston University was named University of the Year 2020 by The Guardian and the University’s full time MBA programme has been ranked in the top 100 in the world in the Economist MBA 2021 ranking. The Aston MBA has been ranked 12th in the UK and 85th in the world.
For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Sam Cook, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44)74469 10063 or email: s.cook2@aston.ac.uk
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