The Godfather and One-On-Ones

While flying to Australia I was able to re-watch part of The Godfather Part I. The movie opens with a long scene where a man is explaining a situation in which his daughter was taken advantage of by some men and ultimately beaten up. He is telling this story to Vito Corleone (i.e. The Godfather) and is seeking justice. This scene goes on for nearly 10 minutes. I found it was quite interesting to see the parallels of this scene with One-On-Ones in the business world.

If you follow the Manager-Tools dogma of One-On-Ones (highly recommended), the approach is to let the direct talk first and to let them talk about whatever is on their mind. The aim is to not direct the conversation or to necessarily open the conversation with a question that could steer them away from what they want to discuss first. While watching this part of the movie, Vito Corleone does not interrupt the man, nor does he ask any questions and seek an opportunity to provide his opinion while there was a pause in the conversation. He waits until the man finishes what he wants to say before he responds and provides his opinion. Powerful!

One-On-Ones is all about developing relationships and the Manager-Tools team advocates that out of all the powers in the work force (e.g. relationship, expertise and role) that relationship power is by far the most powerful. I have used One-On-Ones in the business world for years and have seen this work time and time again. Some movies provide great examples of what to do and what not to do in the business world. The Godfather series certainly demonstrates the importance of relationships, relationship power and family!