Run Family Like Michael Corleone
Hint # 1. Have exacting focus on the welfare and success of everyone you care about.
No one else will. Be ambitious and ruthless in this goal. Being an asshole is a tool like any other. Use it. This will probably involve making morally ambiguous choices. You will probably have regrets.
Be that person to the world, because you have to. But unlike Corleone, maintain a firewall. Be another, worthy person to those you care about. Humble, kind, modest, giving, patient. Good. You will have to struggle with those within the group who can’t separate the external persona from the internal. But that’s on them.
Ignoring Godfather III, Corleone wasn’t able to navigate this line. It takes more will- and brainpower than being a sociopath. Why? Because it is honest. You want a family, and you want to be successful. You aren’t repressing either impulse. The rewards are real and much more meaningful: Strong relationships, a tribe, and plenty of smiles along the way. A lasting contribution to a better future.
-Shlok
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