Situational Factors and Leadership in "The Godfather"
By Amna
Theoretical Overview. Fiedler’s contingency model of leadership is a model which proposes that leadership success is dependent on the “favorableness” or “fit” of leadership style with situational factors. The three situational characteristics addressed in the model are leader- member relations, task- structure, and position power. Firstly, Leader- member relations, relates to the level of “confidence”, “trust”, and “respect” that the leader gets from his followers. Secondly, task- structure, relates to “how structured a job is with regard to requirements, problem-solving alternatives, and feedback on job success.” Thirdly and finally, position power, relates to the degree of power intrinsic in the leadership position. In the two extremes in the model, the favorable leadership style is task- motivated. A task-motivated leader in highly favorable and unfavorable situations achieves the “desired performance.” The model categorizes eight situations with different combinations (good or poor, high or low, and strong or weak) of leader-member relations, task- structure, and position power, respectively. The “very favorable extreme”, with good leader-member relations, high task structure, and strong position power denotes task-motivated leader as the favorable leadership style. In the moderate range, the six middle situations favor relationship-motivated leadership style. The “very unfavorable” extreme with poor leader-member relationship, low task structure, and weak position power also favors task- motivated leadership style.
Summary. In a conversation, the Godfather’s son responds to his girlfriend’s questions about a suspicious man speaking to himself sitting nearby them at the wedding reception. The Godfather’s son informs her that this is a good friend of the Godfather and that he does service for him. The man under discussion is Luca Brazi who is happy to be invited to the Godfather’s daughter’s wedding and goes personally to pay his respects, blesses the marriage and thanks the Godfather for the invitation. (ch.2 13:05-13:54 skip to 14:32-15:17 mins)
The Godfather meets with a member of another Mafia group who is seeking to gain the Godfather’s backing financially for the narcotics business he is involved in. He wants the Godfather’s business cooperation, the financial backing but also the Godfather’s political connections and the power that he himself lacks, and without which his operations are jeopardized. (ch.5 35:37-35:54 mins)
Following a request for service from an old associate, the Godfather assigns the request to a subordinate. He emphasizes that he wants to give the task to someone who is, “responsible”, he chooses to give it to a subordinate named Clemenze. (ch.1 6:39-6:54 mins)
Analysis. (ch.2 13:05-13:54 skip to 14:32-15:17 mins)The Godfather has a good relationship with his subordinates, good leader-member relations. Luca Brazi is a subordinate who accomplishes tasks for the Godfather; his presence at the wedding shows an amicable relationship between leader and subordinate. His personal presence in the Godfather’s office shows to a high degree the esteem in which Luca holds the Godfather; he displays high degrees of “respect” “trust” and “confidence” in the Godfather’s leadership.
(ch.1 6:39-6:54 mins) High task Structure is revealed when the Godfather assigns the task to Clemenze specifically indicating that the task requires a high level of responsibility and maturity. He states, “I want reliable people.” He outlines how the task should be handled, not done in an extreme fashion, by, “[p]eople who are not going to be carried away.”
(ch.5 35:37-35:54 mins)Strong position- power is revealed when the Mafia man explains to the Godfather why he is seeking his backing. He acknowledges the position power that the Godfather possesses. Position power is demonstrated when the Mafia man lists the financial power of the Godfather, and more significantly talks of the influential connections the Godfather has, particularly the politicians, he says, “I need a man who has powerful friends.” “I need, Don Corleone those politicians that you carry in your pocket like so many nickels and dimes.”
According to Fiedler’s model, the Godfather’s, task-motivated leadership style is successful due to the favorableness in the situational factors, the “fit” between the leadership style and the situational factors. Collectively, the Godfather has good leader-member relations, high-structure, and strong position- power, the combination (good, high, and strong) that the Godfather possesses places him in situation 1 in Fiedler’s model, “very favorable”, and the preferred leadership style effective in this situation is task-motivated leadership.
Synthesis. The Leadership demonstrated in the Godfather (1972) arguably controversial, shows an attempt to use Mafioso power and authority to influence followers to solidify power and reap monetary gains. The Godfather’s leadership traits pertain to abilities, personality and motivation: the Godfather’s interpersonal and cognitive skills, high self-confidence and personal integrity, and persuasiveness, respectively. The Godfather’s leadership style is job-centered, he is concerned with an orderly accomplishment of tasks, and in order to do that he initiates a high task- structure: he spells out what task needs to be accomplished by which subordinate. His leadership style is successful due to its compatibility with Fiedler’s three situational variables, in situation 1 “very favorable”. In Fiedler’s model which assesses the fit of leadership style with the three situational variables leader-member relations, task-structure and position power, the Godfather’s leadership style is successful due to its appropriateness with the mix of the Godfather’s situational variables of good leader- member relations, high task- structure and strong position power. With regards to leader-member relations, his subordinates respect him and are loyal to him. With regards to task-structure, he assigns the jobs and determines what needs to be accomplished; finally with regards to position power, his financial status and connection with influential bodies give him power. Therefore, the compatibility of the Godfather’s leadership style with three situational variables explain his success as a leader.
See Also: Leadership Behavior in "The Godfather" and Leadership Traits in "The Godfather"