What the Godfather teaches us about Leadership. Part 1.

30 September 2025

📍 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢, 𝘚𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘺.  𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢.

I’ve been a 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 fan forever.
And last week, I finally ticked off a bucket list item - visiting the Sicilian towns where some of the most iconic scenes were filmed.

𝗜𝗳 you can navigate past the vendettas, the revenge, the horse's head in the bed, and the cold-blooded murder (and it's a big "if")... then there are real leadership lessons hidden within.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺.
Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). Both watched more than they spoke.

But when they 𝘥𝘪𝘥 speak, everyone listened.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 is a masterclass in quiet leadership.
You don’t need to dominate the room.
You need to observe, listen, and speak with intent.

One of my favourite lines comes early in the film.
After Sonny speaks out of turn in a meeting with Sollozzo, Don Vito calmly says:

“My son is young and he speaks when he should listen.”

It’s a moment that reveals so much - about composure, control, and the value of listening.

You don’t have to be loud to lead.
And there’s a reason so much has been written about introverted leaders.
No one would ever describe the Corleones as extroverts.
Yet their presence filled every room.

When I joined MuleSoft many years ago, I was asked to name my favourite movies. I (half-jokingly) said: “Godfather I and Godfather II - I've learned so many leadership skills from these movies".

Curious to hear from others.  Have you ever taken leadership lessons from unexpected places?

Part 2 coming soon.