Getting straight to the point, recently I have touched upon the need for leaders to make themselves stand out more. It irks me to think that crew leaders are hardly anything more than glorified shelter managers. I mean what else do they have to offer besides giving a roof to the homeless? Not a great deal really and it's a shame to see that a lot of leaders are happy to sit by, lazily letting the world go on while they get rich and stack their money for their son or daughter. When did our standards become so poor? What makes a leader any different from all the other Joey Nonames around? Because his/her name is on the door? For a lot of you crew leaders, your words stand for very little and in a place where that is all we have, it is a truly awful spectacle. In the very rare case that I see a crew leader come out I expect their words to carry some weight and be inspiring, alas that just isn't the case and hasn't been for a while. It's a rarity in itself to see a leader out here, except when they announce a protection order and the others then reply to it.

Yes yes, throw your fruit and veg at me all you like you scumbags but it's true. A lot (note I said a lot, not all) of the current crop are uninspiring and bring little to the table. Don't you want people with ideas and those who bring some inspiration getting their shot? Rather than Joey Nobody setting up and doing absolutely nothing but recruit and shoot. Wouldn't you rather see someone getting auth who gets people going, who puts themselves out there? Who stands out from the rest? This was the sort of standard we held ourselves too once upon a time, when you people decide to pull your fingers out your asses then maybe we can get back to this standard of mafiosi.

Personally, I've always felt that unless you have something to bring to the bigger picture, why bother setting up? Sure you may have worked hard, but what's the point if you offer nothing to this thing of ours?

I doubt many "leaders" will venture out here, I doubt many of them will even hear this speech, so if any of you want to relay this message to them, I'm calling them out...

Why bother donning that bold suit if you bring nothing of value to "La Cosa Nostra"? How do you stand out from the rest of us, besides that suit? What do you even do to label yourself a "leader"?

As those of my blood have argued before, you don't need street presence to be a good leader. But it helps you to be a great one. Why should we care about you, if you do not show yourself in these streets? Why should we see you as an example, a leader, if we do not hear your opinions on matters? The amount of silent leaders is enough for it to be worrying - even some Godfather's are remarkably silent. 

Your words don't carry any weight because you have a HQ, they carry weight because you are a leader. And damn right you should act like it.

These discussions occur all the time it seems and yet nothing is ever solved by them but alas I am curious on what exactly it is you want from these Leaders? Leaders can come out here and speak on their values or leadership or whatever it is you would want but when many people who you recruit do not simply care about these things then what does it matter?

Now see me personally when I decide who I want to join, I do not want to join those who will accept anyone and everyone no matter what and have no standards once you enter, I want a Leader that will hand hold you through each rank, who will push you to succeed, who will help you at all times no matter how busy they may be, a vocal leader with a vision. If I am picking out a family and I see families that have around five Made Men with a thirty five member count I am not even going to bother because to me it makes me wonder if they even care.

Every single time my ancestry has led I have tried to do just that, while I will admit that my Street skills are not very good, my speaking skills out in these Streets are lackluster, I try to make my name known to people, I was that guy who wanted to be such a good leader that anytime my future Father's may go bold everyone knew that was the guy who would help you out, provide a fun family for you to join, I wanted people to never forget my leadership qualities no matter what the name was at that point.

In my opinion I am not so sure the Streets are the issue as much as there are so few people who have anything they use to determine which Leader they join, how often do you see people sit around without a family for a few days and asking for more days to decide? Most join families within the first couple hours, very few last more than a day with their decision making. There was some great leaders when I was deciding who I wanted to go to, and since I been alive there have been quite a few I now days say if they were a Leader then I may have ended up joining them, its one of those things I look at to see who impresses me personally.

I do not think the Streets show the work quality, or the Leadership effort, it merely lets people know you want to not be a shadow, though I guess we could argue standards forever really given for you it is street presence, for me it is giving a damn about how your members are doing and ranking though I think that could fall under the category you mentioned on being used to stack the riches of the Leader but it also has deeper meaning for some of us as I personally will never accept a Leadership role if I do not intend to build a great family.

Anyway this is just my two cents on this personally as my past has never been active on the Streets but still deemed as a good leader so maybe I was doing something right but I wanted to increase my skill and challenge myself to be active on these Streets and not to be a shadow. So I guess for me personally its a mix of doing everything I use to do while also trying to incorporate a Streets speaking skill set that makes me believe I deserve the title I hold today.

The only thing that can change the weight in the words of a man, is not the position he holds but his character.

I will not be strict with you Aniki because you are young. But I am tired of taking part in discussions about street presence.

Street presence, for leaders, for Godfathers, for associates, for made men, is important, no doubt about that, noone can deny this.

But like in the way that you can lead a horse to water, but can't make it to drink, in the same way you can't make everyone to put more effort in street presence, just because you say so. But if you want to try, you have to do it with a  subject more original than a discussion about street presence.

Socrates, if the horse doesn't drink it will eventually die. Likewise, a leader who doesn't participate in the discussions on the streets will be dead, dead to those that frequent the streets, and he won't matter to them. You don't need to be active in the streets to be a good leader, but who would argue it doesn't help making you a great one?

And while I agree that most speeches about street presence and the lack thereof are getting repetitive and boring, I think this one poses a larger question, and one that really defines you as a person and as a leader. 

There are other discussions out there, not just this one about presence. True, the amount of such discussions isn't great, but if people see that leaders are actively participating in these (few) discussions, it might inspire others to start one?

When I speak about leaders standing out, I genuinely want to know what they are bringing of value to this thing of ours. I'm not asking just these guys I mentioned either, I'm asking the majority of you that many of us know literally nothing about since we're barely aware of your existence.

This is not just about having a street presence, it's about having any kind of presence. I'm genuinely wondering who most of you guys are. What are you bringing to the table that the rest of us aren't? How do you set yourselves aside from the rest of us not in a bold suit. Is it possible people don't value the streets because their leaders don't?

Fear, you speak of leadership effort but where is the effort in letting your shelter of mobsters run itself? Leadership is about leading people, inspiring people. That is lacking these days in my opinion.

You see Mr Aniki, its a topic discussed easily by outsiders who may not see your work, but I can assure you anyone on the inside can tell you that I do help lead my people to whatever pastures they would like, I personally take time out of my day every day to try to talk to my people and see how things are going and if they need any help. You may think I am lacking the leading and inspirational parts but I assure you I am not, actually since you mentioned it these are two I value very much.

I have raised quite a few children in my illustrious time here, quite a few of them have become Crew Leaders themselves, others hands, but what makes me the most proud about these children I have taught is that they have remained consistent, they have time and time again proven to be hard workers with values who want to prove themselves every single time.

The outside perspective is a funny one because you can only get a glimpse of how a Leader is truly doing things, in my opinion though if a Leader has no street presence there is other ways to find out if they are truly doing anything more than wearing a bold suit. You want street presence well leaders like myself have tried to improve on our street presence since our last of kin. This is something I will continue to actively work on.

You mention just having a presence at all well that is exactly what I try to do, I try to read through everything that is put here and if I have something to say on it then I will say it, if its the same typical repetitive bullshit then I will stay away from it. So while some may not see my face out here all the time, I am here, and I am watching, and I am always willing to respond to discussions that I feel my opinion can be voiced and heard just like this time now.

Just thought I would dissect this a little bit....

It irks me to think that crew leaders are hardly anything more than glorified shelter managers. I mean what else do they have to offer besides giving a roof to the homeless? Not a great deal really and it's a shame to see that a lot of leaders are happy to sit by, lazily letting the world go on while they get rich and stack their money for their son or daughter.

I am sorry but I fail to see the problem with this. Most people lead their lives to better themselves and give their children a good head start.... How is this any different? Why should a family leader have to come out and speak to the masses about how wonderful their day is or what their favourite drink is for future reference? Surely running a family and keeping those family members safe all that is required. They shouldn't have to come out here and explain their actions regarding who they killed or who said what down the backalleys. There is such a thing as OMERTA you know. Do you really think Al Capone went running out onto the street after he massacred his rivals for power? I think not.

Wouldn't you rather see someone getting auth who gets people going, who puts themselves out there? Who stands out from the rest? This was the sort of standard we held ourselves too once upon a time, when you people decide to pull your fingers out your asses then maybe we can get back to this standard of mafiosi. Personally, I've always felt that unless you have something to bring to the bigger picture, why bother setting up? Sure you may have worked hard, but what's the point if you offer nothing to this thing of ours?

I think you are confusing our illustrious leaders with the Dalai Lama.... One lot are master criminals who are ruthless in their dealings, and the other is a well educated orator and public statesman whose whole existence depends on spreading his message

AlexKoehler makes his way through the crowd and joins in on the conversation.

"Aniki, I see where you're coming from, but I do not agree. Leaders don't lead from the outside, they lead from their HQ. The decisions that affect their family, or even their district, are all made in private. The 'behind the scenes' conversations do more than any public speaking will. Leaders shouldn't be judged on how the outside world sees them, but how their own family and city sees them.

I completely agree with Fear and Scott-Weiland. Why? Because I have experienced first-hand how capable they are at leading their families, and both of their statements are accurate. You don't see all that they do from the outside looking in, because they do so much more behind closed doors. I can't speak for other cities, but the leaders you call uninspirational are often hard at work in their HQ, making their family and city better and motivating their members to be all that they can be, like a true leader.

My leader, Scott-Weiland, may not venture into the streets much, but he's the most inspirational leader I have ever seen, all from the stuff he does and says around the HQ. That is what makes a leader; the manner in which they accomplish things to keep a family running smoothly. Not the amount of people who know about them."

Feeling he made his point, Alex steps back and listens in to the other mafiosi.

You talk about legacy's but who really cares about Billy NoMates who helped some guy buy his first drug unit, or got him to his first mil? No, to me that's not a legacy. You may feel peace of mind knowing you help and nurture your guys, but it doesn't take a great deal of effort to point a lot of these people in the right direction.

Look at people like FlyingPig, Numbers4Glory, BillyBathtub, Anita these were all very inspirational people who got the best out of their guys and inspired people to do more than just the bare minimum. People, especially the leaders are too content with bringing in their money and sitting back and while it's not everyone, it is a majority. Hence why I asked, what makes you so different to anyone else? You are literally just monkeys, trying to gather as many peanuts as possible while having their name pinned up on the doorway of a shelter.

Compare some of the names of the above to what we have now and compare the age we were living in then. A slight difference, no?

Once upon a time we expected more from our leaders, it's easy to hide behind the whole "As long as my members are happy, who cares" line beware that nobody will remember you, I can't recall many of your names right now.

If a leader doesn't want to be called a poor leader, an ''empty bold suit'' or simply a mute, he should come to the streets. It's that simple. What do you do behind your HQ doors? Don't care. You might be an excellent leader, but if we don't see you on the streets, we can't call you a great leader, because we don't know who  you are or what you stand for!

I can appreciate that we need to judge leaders by caring for their family, but if it's about ''knowing'' who leaders are or knowing what their position is on important matters, street presence is crucial. 

But who cares if a leader is seen giving lengthy talks on the street. There is more than one way to communicate to people. 

Judging by the existence of this speech and countless others about a desire for street presence (from leaders), I think enough people care for it to be discussed. And yes, there are more ways to communicate, but the streets is the most accessible and a quite quick way to reach the masses. 

So apparently your not allowed to voice your opinion in the streets anymore, perhaps this is why the streets have been so lackluster lately! 

But do they only care because society has set up a system of rewarding people for being visible in the streets? What about those people who like to take a step back and ponder things as not everybody has to be extroverted and comfortable orating to the masses?

Why does it make a Mafioso a great person just for the same old dribble in the streets. Why cant a quieter leader who looks after his family, works hard and can always be depended upon, why cant they be a great leader themselves? 

Some do, others don't. Someone with a passion shouldn't. I'd say that those who ''like to take a step back'' shouldn't be leaders just because they take that step back, instead of the step forward. How is he going to lead by example, if he's silent? Will his members follow his ''leader'' i.e being silent? And true, there are fantastic leaders who don't orate here in the streets and I won't say they're bad leaders, it's just that leaders should set the example of being active participants here! Introverted leaders are usually bad for business anyway.

So, they can be a great, fantastic, magnificent leader, but the majority of the people will never know. Why is it weird for us to judge - in want of a better word - a leader by his muteness? We can't see what he does in the HQ, and that's why he should be vocal. Show the community what he's worth, what he can do and what he stands for. Otherwise these streets would be devoid of any weight and importance!

Tony makes his way to the front of the crowd as removes his fedora.

"I don't mind talking about this subject even though it's been beaten to death many times over in the past.

Scott-Weiland pretty much hit the nail on the head with his points. A lot of people fail to understand and realize that not every single thing a leader does, whether a Don or Godfather, is something that is visual for all to see.

I know of leaders, even Godfathers who may not have the biggest street presence however I can assure you they are fine leaders. For one to think leaders are just 'glorified shelter managers' is so far off, its absurd. There are a wide amount of things that go on behind the scenes that only that leader, his members and possibly his superior can see, things the outside world can't see, shouldn't see nor should care to see.

What can a leader have to offer besides shelter and protection? A leader can provide an avenue of knowledge and growth. A leader helps his or her people all succeed. Helps them prosper in this life. A leader tirelessly contemplates on how he or she can better themself so that they can better their members and better their family. A leader sets goals and sees to it that his or her people meets them. A leader sets examples, encourages and inspires. A leader works with, molds and develops others into leaders themself.

THESE are just a few things that leaders do rather then being a 'landlord'. Now, moving forward...I agree 100% those who have ideas and bring inspiration should be given shots. Just because a person is not shouting out in the streets with their ideas and spreading inspiration in the streets does not in any way shape or form mean they don't hold those qualities. 

One MAJOR thing that is often forgotten in these exact topic discussions is how crew leaders become so. A crew leader can't just raise his or her hand one day and say 'hey I am now a crew leader'. Everyone understands there are certain protocols, procedures and a way of getting to that position. Everyone also realizes that it takes someone in a higher position to give the nod to said crew leader to open their own headquarters. 

With that being said don't you think those giving the authorizations see something in that chosen one that stands out from the rest? Don't you think those giving the authorizations see the bigger picture? Don't you think those giving the authorizations see the chosen ones bringing something to the table? Don't you think those giving the authorizations see the chosen one having value to La Cosa Nostra?

The point is pretty simple. One needs all these great qualities and more to achieve the honor of becoming a leader and beyond but just because certain people may not see them or have the capability to see them doesn't mean they are not there or it doesn't mean they are not great leaders.

I want to make it clear I fully think street presence is a great thing to have but I disagree with it being the end all be all or even a defining thing in ones leadership or life in this thing of ours. It is only a mere dot mixed with countless other things.

There was mention of some leaders in the past who 'were all very inspirational people who got the best out of their guys and inspired people to do more than just the bare minimum' I am sure they were all great wonderful leaders but at the same time there are also leaders NOW doing those SAME EXACT things just not doing it out in the open, publicly. They do it behind closed doors where its most important and where it matters most.

I end with one final question to linger on...Call it a situational question if you like....Suppose there was a leader who was always supportive of his people. He pushed them and encouraged them to be better and they did. He went above and beyond to ensure they were all successful and met what goals he set aside for them in addition to the goals they said for themselves. He made sure his family ran like a well oil machine in all applicable areas, a finely tuned one even. He was inspirational with his words and his actions. However this same leader never ever spoke in the streets, he never took part in discussions. Sure he might've been involved in talks behind the scenes with other prominent members of this thing of ours and Dons and Godfathers but never publicly out in the open...ever. That's leader 1.

Then you have leader 2. This leader always has great insight and a wealth of knowledge. His words flow beautifully. This leader makes it a point to come out to our streets on a daily basis, hell maybe even twice or three times a day and grace us with his awesome talks, topics and discussions. He gives a great deal of his opinions and other things pertaining to this life. At the same time however he has a family of 30 or 40 people, half of which are never around, the other half who are barely around and the rest who do far less then what the norm should be. HOWEVER keep in mind...this leader has amazing street presence. That's leader 2.

I ask everyone, which of these 2 leaders is the better one? If there is a big margin in the two examples above from on end to the next it was done on purpose because this topic was posed moreso of that your on one side or the other side with no in between, thus I pose the question above the same way.

Will I be remembered? I don't know, I would certainly hope so and try to be....I do know one thing for certain though...I will only care about the opinions of the ones who mattered."

With that Tony places his fedora atop his head and tips it to the crowd as he takes a step back.

Why bother donning that bold suit if you bring nothing of value to "La Cosa Nostra"? How do you stand out from the rest of us, besides that suit? What do you even do to label yourself a "leader"?

I think this is the very question that every new leader should be thinking about before taking a headquarters in their city. When I first set up under the late Godfather Batiatus, I did a few things that a few did not like. While a few didn't care for them, the majority did. I knew starting up my own organization was going to be difficult and I wanted to incorporate a few things. While knowing this, I knew I couldn't please everyone because I wanted everyone to get out of their bubble or safety net. I was tired of the same old HQs with the same old rules and such. 

Nonetheless, I wanted to stand out and do something different. I think it worked out well in my eyes. 

Being a leader in this world is very difficult and not many people understand why. Along with Aniki's question, I think you should ask yourself "are you ready to be blamed for every single little thing that arises while you're a crew leader?" before donning the leadership position. This position is not meant for many people. 

But it still doesn't answer why we have to go to the streets to talk? If someone said they were a Mafioso I would assume they were hard working, able to take care of themselves and able to keep their mouth shut when required. Alternatively if someone told me they were a politician I would assume they are extroverted, able to engage a crowd and enjoyed being centre stage... So that begs the question do we want leaders to be Mafia leaders or politicians?

So you're essentially suggesting that the streets are useless and unimportant at best? That's what I'm hearing at least. Remember that our world has quite a bit of ''politics''. Robbing banks and killing people isn't everything.