Be Your Own Mafia Boss

The Guardian published an article yesterday with excerpts from letters written by Costa Nostra boss Bernardo Provenzano, who is currently incarcerated in Italy. The piece details a multiple-step method with which one can become more like a Mafioso, someone who is at once "pragmatic and constantly changing to exploit new opportunities." A shortened version of the guide is after the jump. [via]

1. Submersion: "When a company is failing, the first step is to take it below the radar."
2. Mediation: "Be calm, clear, correct and consistent, turn any negative experiences to account, don't dismiss everything people tell you, or believe everything you're being told. Always try to discover the truth before you speak, and remember that, to make your judgment, it's never enough to have just one source of information."
3. Consensus: "The mafia must present itself as a positive element of society."
4. Keep God on your side: "Assume a mantle of piety."
5. Be politically flexible: "If a politician was seen to be supported by men of honor of a certain rank, within 24 hours he'd be destroyed by the opposition."
6. Reinvention: "In case of a political scandal, or a business failure, it is vital for the new boss to be able to distance himself from the whole affair."
7. Modesty: "To emphasize his humble character and present himself as a simple man of the people [Provenzano] would write letters full of spelling and grammatical mistakes, and he always signed off with the same humble apology: 'I beg your forgiveness for the errors in my writing...'"

Finally Don Corleone's cat-as-accessory makes sense! He was just emphasizing his humble, friendly nature...