《黑道家族》教你当领导

    一周前，曾在HBO的热播剧集《黑道家族》（The Sopranos）中扮演黑手党大佬托尼•斯普拉诺的美国演员、艾美奖得主詹姆斯•甘多菲尼在罗马去世，享年51岁。甘多菲尼在《黑道家族》中成功刻画了一个非常矛盾但又善于自省的黑手党大佬形象。这部剧不仅开辟了美剧的一个黄金时代，获得了普遍的赞誉，也反映出正在日渐老去的美国“婴儿潮”一代焦虑的内心。凭借这个角色，直到1999年该剧上映前还默默无闻的甘多菲尼一跃成为国际巨星。他的葬礼于上周四举行。

    剧中的托尼•斯普拉诺是新泽西州的一个黑手党大佬，不过他经常无端地感到恐惧，甚至还去接受心理辅导。这个形象引起了很多观众的共鸣，因为很多人也和托尼一样，觉得自己生活在美国社会的衰落期，而不是“准备好从底层上升”。即便在“911”恐怖袭击从根本上改变了这个国家的自我形象时，这部剧中仍然弥漫着让人不安的阴暗色调。甘多菲尼扮演的托尼肩膀宽厚，眼神孤独。他的讽刺挖苦中带着典型的北新泽西式的牢骚，就好像是一个身份特殊而富有魅力的普通人。这部电视剧的出品人大卫•蔡斯说：“他的天才很大程度上是透过那双悲伤的眼睛体现的”。

    同时，托尼•斯普拉诺还是一个管理者。这部剧整整六季的剧情中帮派斗争起起伏伏，而战略始终都是一个主要的情节发展点。等到大结局的时候，托尼的心理医生——由罗林•布拉可饰演的詹妮弗•梅尔菲医生总结道，她的治疗本身只是一种欺骗，只是衬托出托尼的英勇。商界领袖们可以从托尼•斯普拉诺身上学到下面三个领导力智慧。

谁是老大？——来自第一季第四集：“世外桃源”

背景：托尼和他的叔叔小科拉德•斯普拉诺为争夺家族控制权的斗争愈演愈烈，逐渐有失控倾向，卡车被劫持，小弟被谋杀。与此同时，托尼还要费力地劝说她倔强的母亲搬进养老院。

解决方案：由于斯普拉诺家族由一位老夫人掌权，梅尔菲医生建议道，有时候不妨给长辈一种“控制的错觉”，同事建议托尼可以把这一招应用到与他叔叔的冲突上。虽然托尼得到了家族其他长辈的支持，但他最终还是选择了一种颇具外交手腕的解决途径。他承认家族名义上由他叔叔掌控，实际上为他自己赢得了一些好处：避免了一场代价高昂的家族内战；而且，作为回报，还从他叔叔那里获得了一些收入颇丰的合同。最重要的是，“枪打出头鸟”，他叔叔最后成了FBI调查的目标。

教训：控制和“控制的错觉”是两种不同的东西。放弃虚名之争，可以换来权力。就像托尼自己后来说的那样：“一旦人们躺在床上飘飘然了，他就不会再出去奋斗了。”

    It's been a week since James Gandolfini, the Emmy Award-winning actor who played Tony Soprano on the HBO drama The Sopranos, died in Rome at the age of 51. Gandolfini's portrayal of a deeply conflicted but introspective mob boss was monumental in several ways: It not only launched a golden age for scripted television dramas, garnering universal praise, but it also tapped into the anxious psyche of the aging American baby boomer. It also made Gandolfini -- a relative unknown until the show's 1999 debut -- into an international star. His funeral services took place Thursday.

    The story of a New Jersey mob kingpin who suffers panic attacks and seeks counseling resonated with viewers who felt, like Tony, that they were living the decline of the American experiment -- rather than "getting in on the ground floor" as he put it in the pilot. The show dealt with the malaise and ennui head-on, growing darker, even as the September 11 terrorist attacks fundamentally reshaped the country's self-image. Gandolfini's Tony -- broad shouldered, eyes forlorn, his sarcasm tinted with that distinctly North Jersey whine -- became an unlikely but captivating everyman. As David Chase, the show's creator, put it, a great deal of his "genius resided in those sad eyes."

    But Tony Soprano was something else as well. He was a manager. Strategy is a primary plot point throughout the show's six seasons, as rival mobsters come and go. By the program's finale, in fact, Tony's therapist -- Dr. Jennifer Melfi portrayed by Lorraine Bracco -- concludes that her treatment itself was a kind of con all along, serving to hone Tony's prowess as a crook. With that in mind, here are three leadership lessons all business leaders can take from Tony Soprano:

Who's the boss? -- Season 1, Episode 4: "Meadowlands"

Situation: Tony's roiling conflict with his uncle, Corrado "Junior" Soprano, for control of the DiMeo crime family is threatening to spin out of control. Trucks are hijacked, footsoldiers murdered. At the same time, Tony is struggling to persuade his recalcitrant mother to move into a retirement community (a.k.a. a "nursing home").

Solution: As far as the Soprano matriarch is concerned, Dr. Melfi suggests that it is sometimes best to give the elderly the "illusion of control," advice that Tony applies to the conflict with his uncle. Though he is backed by the family's other captains, Tony ultimately seeks a diplomatic solution. He concedes nominal leadership of the family to Junior, carving out several advantages for himself: avoiding a costly intra-family war and gaining control of income-generating contracts as payment from Junior in return. Most importantly, Junior is set up as the target of an FBI investigation of the family.

Lesson: Control and the illusion of control are two different things. Letting go of the outright struggle for dominance can confer power. Or, as Tony puts it in a later season, "When guys are on the mattresses, they're not out earning."