Love What You Do

Make sure you do everything your supposed to do...Don’t dog it. Stand your ground.

Vincent Asaro

Vincent Asaro, a captain in the Bonanno crime family and a real desperado, is said to have been part of the crew involved in the infamous Lufthansa heist immortalized in the movie Goodfellas. A pro’s pro of sorts, he clearly had an opinion or two about doing your job correctly. In this case, his instructions to his son bring to mind the old observation that the difference between involvement and commitment is the difference between ham and eggs. The chicken was involved but the pig was committed.

A commitment to one’s craft demands a lot. At a minimum it calls for mastering the compulsory figures a job requires, knowing how to do what you’re expected to do and then doing it over and over again. Author Malcolm Gladwell claims it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become a master at something. Practice, he believes, isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing that makes you good.

In the case of the 80 year-old Asaro, what he’s been good at, more or less, is crime. For over 50 years he practiced his craft, performing the compulsory figures of his profession, such as arson, pornography, hijacking, doling out beatings and, in at least one case, strangling a guy with a dog chain, burying the body in a basement in Ozone Park and then arranging to have the body exhumed and reburied.  

To civilians this may sound like a lot of work, but, as fashion designer Christian Louboutin once said, "If you do what you love, it is the best way to relax."

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

Having Standards Can Make All The Difference

I have killed no men that in the first place didn’t deserve killing...By the standards of our way of life.

                                                         Mickey Cohen

It’s been said that you are what you call yourself and after that it’s just a matter of the degree to which that’s true. Standards, an agreed upon way of doing things and determining how well they are done, help us to parse those degrees in any given profession. Patti Smith once observed that in the arts nothing is a hobby and that each discipline is its own world with its own high standards. Cohen’s world definitely had its own standards.

Mickey Cohen was heir to Bugsy Siegel's criminal empire in mid-century Los Angeles. Addicted to cash, cashmere and ice cream, he was notorious for escorting eponymous starlets, such as Candy Barr and Beverly Hills, through LA’s nightlife. Known for holding cordial conversations with the likes of Billy Graham and Ben Hecht, Cohen could also dispatch guys with names like Itchy, Hooky and Little Jimmy to do his bidding.

The late Helen Thomas, a doyen of the White House press corps, held that standards helped the profession and the public distinguish between a real journalist and just another joker with a laptop. While the recipients of his rough justice would probably disagree, Cohen, as indicated by his comments to journalist Mike Wallace, also saw himself as member of a profession that had certain standards that guided what he could and could not do.

Standards can inform judgement, help to rein in our emotions and keep us from regrets. They alone, however, weren’t able to keep Cohen from becoming a resident of Alcatraz.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

Don't Forget The Personal Touch

Tom, don’t let anybody kid you. It’s all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of  **** every man has to eat every day of his life is personal....They call it business but it’s personal as hell.   
Michael Corleone

   

That modern Machiavelli, Dale Carnegie, promoted the idea that prosperity favors the personable. He believed acknowledging the unique talents of another person and their value was a key element of success in business. There are several instances where Puzo’s Corleone demonstrated a similar approach to people and profits. For example, he once admitted to a close associate that he didn’t feel the need to wipe everyone out, just his enemies.

Michael Corleone knew that every time we tell someone to get in the trunk--either figuratively or literally--we are planting a seed that can grow into a grudge--and grudges can be bad for business. This notion applies whether a person’s livelihood involves retail, finance or a truckload of consumer electronics for which there is no receipt.

Corleone’s insight that all business is personal also enabled him to employ what some consider to be the three levels of leadership.

The first level is the ability to get folks to eat dirt. The second level is to get folks to eat dirt and like it. The third level of leadership, by all accounts the most subtle and difficult to master, is the ability to get folks to eat dirt, like it and think it was their own idea.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

The Importance Of Really Listening

I tell you, you listen you learn. You talk, you teach.

Paul Castellano

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus held that humans have two ears and one mouth so we could listen twice as much as we speak. Paul Castellano, a former poultry packing executive and associate of the late Carlo Gambino, would  probably concur. Aware of the dangers brought on by unguarded comments, Castellano encouraged associates to be circumspect in their speech.

However, real listening, as author Simon Sinek points out, is more than just waiting for your turn to talk. For Castellano, real listening allowed him to glean as much information as possible from those around him, whether they intended to share it or not, and apply it in a profitable manner. It also kept him in tune with the agendas of rivals and subordinates. As Thelonious Monk once said, “Just because you’re not a drummer, doesn’t mean you don’t have to keep time.”

Castellano lived in a period when many believed a secret was something to be shared with only a person or two. For him, that would be two too many. He was particularly worried that unnecessary chatter would lead to “teaching” trade secrets to those who were not on a need to know basis--such as the FBI.

The irony here is that the reason we have a record of Mr. Castellano’s musings on the need for discretion is because law enforcement had more bugs in his residence than one is likely to find in the proverbial cheap hotel.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

Visualization Can Help You Achieve Your Dream

Donnie, as a wiseguy you can lie, you can cheat, you can steal, you can kill people legitimately. You can do any goddamn thing you want and nobody can say anything about it. Who wouldn’t want to be a wiseguy?  
Benjamin “Lefty Guns” Ruggiero

In the words of that Polynesian pundit from South Pacific, Bloody Mary, “If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?” Increasingly, high achievers in sports, business and the arts are attributing at least part of their success to their ability to visualize their goal and how to achieve it.

As a soldier in the Bonanno crime family, Ruggiero achieved success in a number of ways, including bookmaking, extortion and loan sharking. Experience had given him the ability to visualize the different challenges that life might send his way, such as a stick up, a screw up or a line up.

Aristotle once said the soul never thinks without a picture. In Mr. Ruggiero’s case, his soul had a picture of a life well spent scamming, cheating and stealing the pot of gold at the end of someone else’s rainbow.

Unfortunately for Lefty, however, his powers of visualization did not include the ability to see that the mook he knew as Donnie Brasco was really FBI agent Joe Pistone working undercover. That Johnny Depp must really be some actor.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

Communication Is Key

You know why  I killed him? He didn’t call when I told him to come in.  

John Gotti

When we communicate we do more than exchange information. Communication also provides an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution others make to our well being. When we make the time and effort to call, email or send a card, we let others know we value the relationship we have with them.

Sincere face-to-face communication, open and accepting, is especially valued by some, since it is less likely to leave a messy paper trail or end up marked as “People’s exhibit 12.”

Van Morrison once said that if you didn’t hear from him, it just meant he didn’t call. Philosopher and therapist Paul Watzlawick took a different position. He believed we cannot not communicate and failing to communicate is in itself a statement on the status of a relationship. Mr. Gotti, a successful plumbing supply salesman from Queens, seemed to concur when he expressed his disappointment that a colleague had failed to take the time to get in touch.

If fact, there are those who contend Mr. Gotti later reached out to the person in question and expressed his disappointment in a manner that was clear, concise and for which there is no emoji.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

Our Actions Reveal Our Character

If nobody sees it, it didn’t happen.   James “Whitey” Bulger

Whitey Bulger rose to prominence in South Boston’s criminal underworld, at least in part, by providing the FBI with information it used to dismantle his competition--Boston’s faction of the Patriarca crime family. Since crime abhors a vacuum, this created an opportunity for him to expand his illegal activities--what a coinkydink.

In the movie “Black Mass”  Whitey is portrayed as a sort of disciple of the famed philosopher Bishop Berkeley. Berkeley proposed that objects of sense exist only when perceived. He is credited, some say erroneously, with posing the question, “If a tree gets whacked in the forest for talking to the feds, but nobody sees it, did it really happen?” When asked, the oak trees said they didn’t know anything while the pines, predictably, said yes and asked for part of the dead tree’s bookmaking territory.

Martha Davis, the singer for The Motels, once said,  “If you’re gonna sell out, make sure they’re buying.” In Bulger’s case the FBI bought every bit of what he had to offer. However, as far as Whitey was concerned, he wasn’t selling anyone out. He was just sharing information. In fact, in an act of intellectual  gymnastics that would make a Jesuit proud, Whitey claimed that since no one witnessed his information sharing, it never happened.

It’s long been said our character is revealed by what we do when nobody's watching. In Bulger’s case, by discouraging anyone from watching what he was doing he was able to become Boston’s most infamous desperado--and stay out of prison for a very long time.

And, for the record, he didn’t know anything about any dead tree. Really.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

When We Give, We Receive

You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word.

Al Capone

It’s said that Napoleon believed there are only two forces that unite men--fear and self interest. Much like introducing the reluctant mule to the two-by-four, it’s crucial to let others know you have their best interests at heart.

For instance, long-term success in business often results from building a mutually beneficial relationship with the customer. A good salesman doesn’t want to sell you a hot television. He wants to loan you the money--at a weekly rate that would make a stripper blush--so you can buy the television, a vibrating recliner and a chrome and glass entertainment center that just fell off the back of someone’s truck.

A veteran sports actuary by the name of Bob Martin referred to this approach to relationship building as taking someone to the cleaners one shirt at a time. The key is getting and keeping your audience’s attention. Whether you rely on ballyhoo or viral buzz, a free lunch or a threatening gesture, people won’t beat a path to your door until they know what’s good for them. Capone, as the comment attributed to him suggests, was an expert at letting his customers know what was good for them.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

Life Is A Series Of Negotiations

Those who want respect, give respect.     Anthony Soprano

It’s been said that children are the perfect negotiators. They can ask for something without getting embarrassed, they often read us better than we read ourselves and they don’t give up. Just imagine if they carried a lead pipe and a piece.

Adults, however, are often at a disadvantage because they have learned there can be consequences to their desires. It’s what James Baldwin called the price of the ticket. It’s also part of what St. Teresa of Avila meant when she cautioned that more tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered prayers. It turns out there’s no money for nothin’ and the checks aren’t free.

Mr. Soprano, a waste management executive from New Jersey, reminds us that when we want respect we have to be prepared to pay in kind. Think of it as a sort of social and spiritual vigorish we pay on every bet we make.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

The Journey Is The Destination

“Maybe he took a little trip.”  Anthony “Tony Jack” Giacalone

When we embrace our personal journey as a destination in itself many believe it is easier to remain alert to what is going on around us and to live in the moment. This is what William Burroughs characterized as “the naked lunch”--the instant when we can truly see what is dangling at the end of the fork.

Burroughs was also of the opinion that while it is not important to live, it is important to travel. Mr. Giacalone, who is said to have arranged a number of excursions to uncharted lands, might agree. In this case, “Tony Jack” was speculating on the whereabouts of one James Hoffa. It is rumored that Giacalone was one of the last people to see him alive.

Hoffa, a one-time giant of organized labor, disappeared under a cloud of suspicion stemming from his involvement in making the cash in the Teamsters retirement fund available to a select group of Las Vegas-based investors. Sort of a not so mutual fund.

No one has seen, heard, smelled or conversed with Mr. Hoffa in many years. Some say he is either playing snooker with Ambrose Bierce and D.B. Cooper or is in a witness protection program under Giants Stadium. Either way, it make one question the wisdom of relying on a travel agent who specialized in one-way tickets.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

Focus On The Task At Hand

This life of ours, this is a wonderful life. If you get through this life and get away with it, hey that is great. But it’s very unpredictable. There are so many ways you can screw up. A lotta guys, they zip up their zipper before their d**k is put away.  Paul Castellano

Paul Castellano succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family and is credited by many with increasing the family’s involvement in legitimate businesses. He met an untimely demise while on his way to a corporate meeting of sorts at a steakhouse in midtown Manhattan. While militant vegans, such as the misanthropic warbler Morrissey, may argue that Castellano’s assassination demonstrated that meat truly is murder, his avuncular commentary warned that complacency and inattention are the real threats.

The late Joe Paterno, football coach at Penn State, once noted that we should set our sights on excellence rather than success since the elements of success, such as attention to details, are usually within our control, while success itself more often is not.

Castellano’s admonition cautions that in a life that is unpredictable, taking things for granted or entertaining distraction at a critical moment can lead to taking one’s eye off the ball, so to speak.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

We Are All Part Of One Human Family

Have you heard the one about the Chinese godfather? He made them an offer they couldn’t understand.       Corrado “Uncle Junior” Soprano

Corrado Soprano, lovingly known as Uncle Junior,  was an entrepreneur active in the gaming and personal finance industries. His crude but timely koan demonstrates how difficult it can be to communicate with those from other cultures and develop relationships based on trust and mutual respect. As technology helps to shrink the distance between the residents of the global village, learning to communicate and get along will be essential if  we and the planet are to survive.  

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama once observed, “Whether we like it or not, we have all been born on this earth as part of one great human family.” One way to acknowledge this familial connection and enhance our interaction with individuals and groups from places such as Colombia, Mexico, Nigeria, Jamaica, Russia, Albania and Hong Kong is to learn another language.

Mastering a few simple phrases, such as ‘Where’s the rest?” or “ Get in the trunk.” can go a long way toward building bridges of understanding. Truly, as Maya Angelou once said, “ We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.

Follow Your Bliss

“I dreamed about being a wiseguy the way other kids dreamed about being doctors or movie stars or firemen or ball players.”    Henry Hill

It was the opinion of American mythologist Joseph Campbell that those who know their bliss have a clear understanding of what makes them feel most alive. He believed that when you follow your bliss you will live the life you truly ought to be living.

Said Campbell, “When you follow your bliss…doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else.”

Such was the experience of Henry Hill. Hill went through a lot of doors--some open, some not--as he followed his bliss right into smuggling cigarettes, hijacking trucks, dealing drugs, collecting gambling debts and helping to engineer the legendary Lufthansa Air Cargo heist, which at its time was the largest cash robbery in U.S. history.

Eventually, he parlayed his bliss seeking into a book deal, a major motion picture, numerous television interviews, a Web site and a stint in the federal witness protection program.

Hill demonstrated how following your bliss can put you on the path to personal fulfillment, as long as you don’t mind having to get rid of the occasional body.

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth taken from books, movies and government tapes.

You Are What You Eat

"Leave the gun, take the cannolis."       Peter Clemenza

Peter Clemenza embodied the axiom that an army travels on its stomach. This loyal and corpulent capo of the Corleone family knew that breakfast--which in his case usually consisted of  a chunk of bread, a hunk of salami and a glass of grappa--truly is the most important meal of the day.

By leaving the gun and taking the cannolis after the execution of the traitorous Paulie Gatto, Clemenza demonstrated that tools, particularly incriminating ones, can be replaced. However, we only have one body and to do our best as we battle our own Tattaglias we need to eat right. Otherwise we could end up swimming laps with Luca Brasi.

When in doubt, take the cannolis.


Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth taken from books, movies and government tapes.