Leadership Lessons from The Godfather

In honor of the 40th Anniversary of my father's favorite movie, The Godfather, Justin Moore, CEO and founder of Axcient, commented on how he learned how to be a successful entrepreneur from the movie.
Lessons in Leadership from The Godfather

I personally worked for Mohegan Sun a while back, and I feel that they are an employment leader in Connecticut. They represent all 5 of the lessons learned from this article.

1. Build a powerful community. 
Mohegan Sun has made some pretty impressive partners in the entertainment world. They have three Michael Jordan restaurants, two Bobby Flay restaurants, they have a Jasper White's Summer Shack, and a Todd English's restaurant Tuscany. They also have a collaboration with the Blues Brothers, a local radio station and many more. Any time that they hold a large event such as an anniversary - they call upon these celebrities to not only attend but to help bring attention to Mohegan Sun.


2. Hold people accountable. 
They may not like to advertise it, but in the past few years they have suffered due to the economy. Instead of falling apart, they made some strategic moves and performed some small scale layoffs. They hold their employees accountable, and started at the top for the layoffs. In comparison to their competition in the state which had highly publicized wide scale layoffs.


3. Don’t get emotional. 
When the competition built a grand new casino, Mohegan Sun didn't backdown. Instead they also expanded their offerings at a more financially manageable scale. Bringing in a Margaritaville, poker room, water wall, and new casino. Now today they are not as financially burdened by their expansion - unlike the competition.


4. Be decisive.
Mohegan Sun has strong leaders and depends on their management team to make important decisions.


5. Spend time with your family.
As an employee at Mohegan Sun the work-life balance was always promoted. I never felt that I had to choose between family and work, and was hardly ever asked to take work home with me. They were also flexible about the hours that you worked - which I am sure varies by department. I was able to work events and then take comp. time at other times. Even during work they did team building events, instead of after hours, to encourage a healthy working environment. 
Mohegan Sun Culture