How to Be Like John
“Stay Strong” was John Gotti’s motto. If you want to be like John, then there are a few things you need to do and a few things to emulate. John Gotti was a unique person indeed and was chiasmatic, open, aggressive, outgoing, and strong. He exuded confidence and toughness. John Gotti was the boss. He knew it, and so did everyone else. People loved him, they admired him and craved being around him.
He carried himself with poise and coolness even under the greatest of pressure and even though the law was constantly tearing at him, he stayed calm and unagitated.
Being the Boss
When you’re the boss, you have dozens or more people you are responsible for. Maybe hundreds are in your crew or family, the boss above you and the members of the committee, which are the men who oversee the other families. The boss is like the CEO of a corporation. The CEO handles their employees and stockholders. It’s a great job, however, it’s not all glitz and glamor.
A boss has to be sure all of his little bees are doing their job and earning like they’re supposed to and if not, you can get fired or worse, whacked. You have to have people working for you, you can trust which is a tense situation every day because everyone wants to be the boss and most of them think they can do a better job. Throughout mob history, bosses have been whacked repeatedly. Look what happened to Big Paul.
Show Strength
“Stay Strong” is a great adage and strength is a must if you want to be the boss. You have to be strong minded and have a firm will. The boss has to be decisive, not wishy-washy. Often you have to make split-second decisions and never do you have to luxury of second guessing yourself. Your crew can never see you as weak. In the movie, Analyze This Robert De Niro played a boss who would start crying for no reason at all. This was a comedy, of course, but you get the idea, a sign of weakness can be trouble. John Gotti displayed total confidence regularly. You never saw a picture of him moping around or confused. He always had a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. The people who admired him knew this, and there was never a question of John’s certainty.
You Gotta be Tough If You wanna be the boss?
Then you better be a tough guy. Being tough goes hand in hand with confidence and strength. Being tough isn’t just about being able to knock a guy out, which is not a bad thing to know how to do if the situation arises. Toughness is a sense of being, a sureness a person has. It’s a feeling you have inside, in your heart and mind. A person needs to know he or she is tough and many times you have to prove it often. How do you show all of this, how do you show the world you’re strong, confident and tough? John had it nailed down. He radiated it with every step he took; he showed the world who he was; he showed poise and conviction every day of his life and that was one of the reasons that law enforcement was so worried about him. They had to bring down one of the most confident and robust godfathers of our time. John Gotti exhibited all of this and more, and he showed the world how to be the Boss. Still want to be like John?
If you liked this blog then you will love the book, Secrets of the Mob.
