A 'wee matter for the city heads and leaders out there

War is a good leveller, it allows things that have got out of control to find the natural balance of order once again

One issue my dear 'ol papa was perpelexed with and what seemilngly got out of control was the number of crews running about the place, managing nothing more than a handful of robots and handing promotions out like its confetti. The recent war has gone some way to curbing this tide to a bearable level

In the past month or so it seems we had auth's every other day. From an outsiders view, some for the sheer hell of it. We had a situation with each city having 4 or 5 crews, with an average of 30 people per crew (including a possible upwards of 10 NPMs per crew). Cities trying not be outdone by eath other. The equivilant of a gorilla puffing out his chest to look big and stronger than what they actually are. And with the notion that if you had a small army following your every move then its a divine right to be a crew leader

I'm sure people will get on the defensive saying they earnt it, worked hard for the family, shown loyalty.. yada, yada, yada. This i'm not denying, and who am I to question the decision of a godfather od city leader,i'm just a mere gangster looking for a show shine boy. But I ask, do these people have the edge. Are they going to go that extra yard to make a difference to our world. Or are they still going to prop up their HQ, managing a few NPMs and seemingly too nervous to come out onto the street incase they say something that may or may not offend. I say the shackles are off

I 100% believe a crew leader needs to have some street presence. Don't get me wrong, i'm not infering that they be out talking to every yahoo, hillbilly and kuku out here. Some people aren't comfortable speaking, that I accecpt. Do I believe these people should be a leader, No. But they need to give us something, give us a glimpse into what a leader saw in them to be granted the honour of spreading the wings. If not, how do they expect people to respect them, respect the position they hold. Again, i'm sure people will come out and try and deflect saying 'i'm here to serve my family and my godfather, and make sure I run a tight ship, not to entertain the masses'. If this is the case, whats to differentiate the leaders from tthe pack who also work tirelessly for their city. And please don't come here saying running a crew is a full time job and they don't have the time to come to the streets, because thats a bunch of baloney

Back to my original point and if i'm so bold to ask, but has the criteria for auth changed. Has the bar been raised. Are we now asking for a little more than 'being loyal and a 'hard worker'. Obviously each city head will have different guidelines, some more stricter than others

Chuckled mentioned something yesterday which gave a little glimpe into plans afoot over in Chicago regarding injecting the vaa-va-voom back into the business district, this a day after getting auth'd.... I'm eager to see what other leaders have got in the pipeline to make a difference to our world. To the leaders, whats your mandate going to be, whats to stop you from being the next drone in bold.

I guess time will tell

Jax

apologies *Chuckle

Very nice speech. This is one of many I cared to give my thought on. Your speech does prompt a very valid question on the presence of Crew leaders and Godfathers in the street. Over the last year or so I have seen a lot of street presence by mobsters trying to show there name in this world and many of there speeches were interesting. From people ranting, to people getting the awaited auth. 

From what I have experienced, a lot of speeches are from mobsters trying to climb up the ranks, to make there crew leader proud and to show there presence in front of this world we live. I think most people only do this in order to become more powerful. It is soon after they reach there highest rank or have gotten auth in which I rarely see there presence in the streets. Once they get where they want they do not become lazy but they take a rest. It takes a leader or a Godfather a very long time to reach perfection for the city they live in. I cant help feel that street presence isnt the a major priority on there mind.

In another aspect, I think a lot more crew leaders will be posting now because there are a lot of new faces. I always knew the Streets was a place to make your name, now that the familiar faces have gone and people have took there place, they will now be making a name for themesleves and for the new crew.

To clear things up, the essence of this speach isn't just about street activity. Its a big part of it, yes. But its more to do with the amount of and the standard of crew leaders now and going forward

And to raise awareness of the bigger issue of 'whats' next', how can we take things to the next level. I'll be sure to sharing a few of my thoughts with my crew leader on how I feel things can be improved

I just didn't want this speach to go off on a tangent about the merits of street speaking again, as it encompasses a lot more to it than that

Back to my original point and if i'm so bold to ask, but has the criteria for auth changed. Has the bar been raised. Are we now asking for a little more than 'being loyal and a 'hard worker'. Obviously each city head will have different guidelines, some more stricter than others

To be honest, you mainly answered it all for yourself. As a Godfather I will determine who has the right to work under me and for what reasons, and I alone. The public are more than welcome to make their own judgement on me and those that I choose as leaders, but the opinion of the masses will do very little to determine who I choose.

Over the years that my bloodline has been in this Things of Ours, one thing each generation has done is walked around the streets listening to as many conversations as possible and offering an opinion when merited. Not because people thought they should, but because they wanted to. I guess it was a by product of the early generations knowing that a street presence was essential if you wanted to get anywhere.

However, it is my opinion that we must stop living in the past and look to the future. Street presence is great, but why do people assume that makes someone a good leader? Kuku loves to talk on our streets, often he'll raise interesting topics, or controversial ones, but does that mean we'd all love to see him in Bold? I highly doubt it. (Simply an example, not an attack on poor wee Kuku)

On the flip side, I have known many people that wear a bold suit and rarely find themselves out in the streets, I don't for a second think their family see them as a poor leader for this.

With that said.. I'd like to contradict myself a little.. I believe I know what you were aiming for when you started this topic of discussion, and like yourself I would love to see street presence being something that is once again an aspect to be considered when appointing a leader, however, it should always be simply ONE aspect, not a defining aspect. Godfathers/City Heads will/should only ever choose people that they feel will be able to run a successfull family that will help build their City into a bigger and better place to live. There are far more things taken into consideration when appointing someone as a leader, and i've found the majority of people that don't realise that are the ones that have never found themselves in the situation where they are doing the choosing.

~A~

Mr. Webb steps in with his trusty steed

As a person who works hard to do the best he can for his family, I don't have any problem with a leader not being a public figure. They can run their family from the shadows and be quite successful as more than one leader has proven in the past. I would truly hate to see death, not that anyone is suggesting that, over something like street presence and if it happened it would take alot of what has been built in the past few years and throw it away.

Though, if I might suggest something just to be solutions oriented, I wouldn't mind each family having at least one representative on the streets that speaks on behalf of the family and takes cares of what public business may come up. A leader should have someone they trust to take care of their business front, if for nothing else but to keep suspicious outsiders away from the truth of our business.

Mr. Webb rides off into the sunset on his steed.

Though, if I might suggest something just to be solutions oriented, I wouldn't mind each family having at least one representative on the streets that speaks on behalf of the family and takes cares of what public business may come up. A leader should have someone they trust to take care of their business front, if for nothing else but to keep suspicious outsiders away from the truth of our business.

When I worked in Chicago, Roman asked for a number of the people within the city to apply for a job called The Chicago Street Team. I feel that the idea worked very well, there was a good group of street speaker type people that had the cities interests at heart and would be tasked with the job of responding to anything that made mention of their fine city.

However, the flip side to that is people were born into the habit of then toeing the party line and only giving out positive thoughts on things concerning their city. People should feel they can express their honest opinion on any topics, or even ignore topics should they wish.

Which brings me back to the point - Those that speak in the streets, should do so out of choice, not necessity. I don't need to see 200 people running around shouting their mouths off because they think they need to do it to get noticed. Trust me, your leader will notice all the other qualities you have and know you are capable without you having to come out here and show the world that.

I fear the emphasis on over importance or a street presence in those who wish to be, and are leaders will fill our world with a high level of bumf. As Alabama has pointed out earlier there will be a raft of standards and skills you look for in a crewleader.

Why pick someone who can talk shit in the streets but couldn't organise a piss up in a speakeasy or is a total liability?

I am a strong believer in a crew leader creating an atmosphere in his family which allows those who want to or wish to speak on the streets the opportunity to do so. Whether that crewleader decides to venture to the streets is pretty much down to him.

I fear this is skewing off topic and is turning into yet another rant about street speaking, which to be fair we've had our fair share off already.... and we certainly don't need this turning into another. 

Apologies if my initial speech make it seem that way, it was intended. I assure you

Yes street speaking isn't the be all and end all, and isn't indicament of a successfull leader. It'll certainly go some way between making the difference between a good one and great one though

I also happen to agree with Alabama when he says the Godfather or City Head is in the best place to make that judgement call - one of the reasons I chose to house myself with him in Detroit due to the fact that he holds a lot of the same principles that I do

My point in case was with the amount of crew leaders we had running almost empty crews, each city having upwards of 3/4 crews. With the impression given to try play catch with the big boys over in New York and Chicago. Instead of letting the city frow organically, it was almost being forced to grow beyond beyond its capabilites

Yes, we should be looking forward, but I would  also hate for this to follow down the same path as before, where the importance of being auth'd had lost its mojo due to increasing manner in which they were handed out. Most auth announcements these days go by without a second glance or murmur... I think that speaks more volumes that what i'm able to do on this street corner

* it wasn't intended. I assure you - I really need to start thinking about my words more!

I have always viewed the number of crews and families operating on our streets with discontent. I don't think we ever needed, nor will ever need again, 40 Dons and Captains running around, with HQs of empty space and a handful of members between them. I would like to see our families establish themselves and grow in strength and numbers. I would like to see them take on an identity of their own rather than be 'just another crew'. How many family names can you genuinely recall? I remember very few indeed and that must change. We need leaders to lead and families to start acting like families. I want to learn about what a family feels about a certain issue or how they respond to certain situations. When people choose to ignore what is going on and not proffer and opinion or action, it leads to anonymity and that isn't leadership.

I'm not suggest that everyone must come to the Streets 100% of the time and that will automatically make them a worthwhile leader, because it won't. What I do believe though, is that they must actually lead and you can't do that purely from behind your HQ walls. We need characters and we need identities and as much as anything else, that is what we have lacked for the last few months.

There will always be posturing and vying for supremacy; it is the nature of our thing for it to occur. Whilst it may seem like needless puffing out of the chest, we live in a culture where the strong prey upon the weak, so it is important for appearances to be maintained, even if it is just prima facie. One thing that I hope will never be tolerated again though, is circumventing the training of bodyguards through establishing a crew that we have no need or demand for. This allowed for inflated volumes of bodyguards, supported entirely by robots and was a terrible, terrible practice which contributed in part towards my motivation for removing the previous regime. I'd be loathe to see this every start up again.

I think we also need to bring back a real need for authorisation to be earned. People have become lax and they have a sense of entitlement that should never have been allowed to grow in the first place. I've always advocated that only those deserving and capable should be allowed to lead, whilst the rest should follow and learn until they are ready to do more than that. Some of the best leaders I've ever seen spent years honing their craft, so that when their opportunity arose they knew exactly what they wanted to do and how to get it done. That mentality appears to have vanished completely and ,any of the subtleties and intricacies of leadership have also disappeared. We need to work hard to foster them and change the thought process which has been hindering us.

As far as I'm concerned, nobody from my family will be considered for starting their own family until they have demonstrated they have a genuine capacity to bring something different to the table. I like innovators, entertainers and most of all I like individuals with a street presence. I don't believe that it is feasible that a leader should be able to start their own family, when nobody on the street has any idea who they are. Sure, they have served their family well and might be as talented and capable in their current role as possible, but that is as far as they should go, until they cultivate a reputation for themselves at a street level.

Let me reiterate; this does not need to be 10,000 stories or pointless contributions. This has to be shaping yourself as an individual and forging yourself an image, so that people know who you are and know what you're about. If you haven't done that, then you shouldn't be allowed to lead anyone else, because they are following an empty suit.

In order to make any of this possible though, we firstly need to stop handing people everything they want on a silver platter. Few people are going to work hard to show they have what it takes to lead, when someone else is prepared to let them operate in their city having done nothing. It will take time, but we can put the emphasis back onto those people who actually want auth and necessitate that they actually earn it before giving it to them.

~C~

If you emphasise everything, nothing is emphasised. If every 'leader' came to the streets on a daily (or even weekly basis) to speak on some topic or another, they would still be anonymous for the simple reason that people, when not actually on the street, would struggle to recall who said what.

"Was it that Godfather from New York who spoke about rogues?"

"No no, he was on about family values, it was the Underboss from Chicago who was talking about rogues"

Though there are considerably less Leaders following from the war, there's still far too many folks donning that bold suit every morning for them all to come out and harp on about this, that and the other. It isn't street presence that makes a Leader who they are anyway, it's overall presence. I've known of leaders who very rarely graced the streets yet their opinions and personality were known throughout our thing; conversely, I've also seen leaders who'd never shut their mouths and despite this, no one knew what they were about.

The very simple truth is that the making of a Leader means an individual must actually want to lead. If you would be happy to sit with a nice bold suit and your 20 guys in a city where you have no responsibility because you toe the line with someone bigger than you, then leadership is not for you. You have to want the power, want the responsibility and relish the risk and peril that comes with that. Everthing else has to stem from that desire and motivation.

i see this in two ways. there are bosses and then there are leaders. to the naked eye they maybe hard to tell apart,  but when you get closer and pay attention to how they act, you can tell them apart.  a boss stands around issuingg orders. demanding things and generally considers his own agenda first. he rarely condsiders the good of his own people and theyre lives.  due to this nature their mood turns sour and they tend to become less productive. this creates a circle of funk that ultimatly leads no where.  a leader on the other hand enhances the mood of his crew. he or she takes into consideration everys situation and tries to do the best for everyone involved. they put in time and effort to teach the uneducated. they  dont just throw them to the wolves and say have at it. its my hope to see more leaders appear in this world. there are alot of young mafisos out there that need true guidence in this world. it is a prime time to step up and prove that youre a leader and just not a money grubby click monkey boss.

They can run their family from the shadows and be quite successful as more than one leader has proven in the past

I don't get this mentality. Why would anybody be contempt with only being 'quite successful'. Surely you'd want to be the best you can be. Strive to hit the ball out of the park instead or being happy running to 1st base every time. If you don't have that drive and hunger, or you sit in fear of saying something that may or may not lead to your death, then maybe leadership isn't the path for you. 

I fear the emphasis on over importance or a street presence in those who wish to be, and are leaders will fill our world with a high level of bumf. As Alabama has pointed out earlier there will be a raft of standards and skills you look for in a crewleader.

Why pick someone who can talk shit in the streets but couldn't organise a piss up in a speakeasy or is a total liability?

Personally I don't think there is enough emphasis on street presence for crew leaders to be in the streets, because theres no emphasis at all. And if you've got a leader who couldn't organise a piss-up and is a 'total liability' then I guess street presence is the last thing to be concerned with, the bigger issue being how that person got auth'd in the first place

Chuckle has raised some very valid points about stepping up to the plate, carving your own path in this world. Why would anybody be happy being mediocre to then die. Am not necessary on about everyone coming to the streets en-mass, which I think is the only thing people are biting at. But maybe look at the merits of ranking, just because somebody can carry 40 units of drugs around with them, does that mean their worthy of the title of Consigliere. Going back to what Alabama said, thats something only the crew leader and godfathers can decide on, and you respect that call. But it does leave things open to interpretation

Jax

I don't remember suggesting that everything was to be emphasised. I believe that certain elements require emphasis because very little at all is currently expected and pretty much anyone doing next to nothing qualifies them for leadership. That must change. Why is that acceptable? Why should mediocrity and essentially lack of effort be rewarded?

I also believe it would be impossible for individual leaders to lack indentity if they came to the Streets and actually lead their families through their words and their actions. By actually taking stances and expressing opinions, they would be anything but anonymous. Your view that things would be confused and difficult to remember who said what, also presupposes that all the leaders would agree, would be uniform in their contributions and would not express an opinion in a unique or memorable way - all of which seem extremely unlikely to occur in reality.

To be honest, claiming to lead without publicly leading is just a fall back mechanism for the lazy, the fearful or the inept. It shouldn't be good enough. It should be that more is expected and they should be required to demonstrate to their families the way forward. I believe our world would be a much better place if everyone adopted that mentality instead of settling for doing a half-assed job and getting away with it.

Leaders settle matters OOC in coffeeshops that could be settled far more realistically in the business district or the Streets. Would you like to be invited to a sit down with your bosses, even if it was just to safeguard them? Isn't that part of what being a mobster actually is? Doesn't that sound like the type of thing that would be interesting?

We seem to have forgotten that we should actually be being mobsters where we can and instead we run a mile when these situations present themselves. A big part of being a Don is actually acting like a Don. You absolutely cannot do that OOC or from the shadows, because no other families would respect you. You need to cultivate a reputation, you need to cultivate an image and you need to cultivate a persona.

I'm not Grin, I'm Chuckle.

~C~

I think a major compoment of leadership is training.  How does that particular CL develop his people?  On what basis does he recruit.

The late, great Kurtz viewed it as a personal failing if one of his members didn't progress in the way he wanted.  He emphasised training time and again.

First of all, I don't believe I ever said anything about not striving for greatness. Great leaders don't necessarily need to speak in the streets regularly. It most definately is not a requirement.

The mentality of being quite successful, or not expecting perfection as you seemed to have phrased it, is the mentality of understanding there are no absolutes in this thing of ours. Its not an idea that necessarily means that people can't strive for greatness. I'm not an experienced leader by any means but I don't believe that putting the expectations of perfection on anyone is the way to cultivate a strong family in the long-term. It takes time and effort to get to that point and a leader would be able to put the effort of people together in a way that creates something great. Would you suggest that if you are not a dominant member of this society you are not a good leader? That would be ridiculous in my opinion.

"I don't remember suggesting that everything was to be emphasised"

I wasn't referring particularly to you there Chuckle, I just disagree with the commonly held notion that street presence should be sought for it's own sake - though that's not to say I'm inferring you claim such. 

Perhaps I phrased poorly, but I didn't mean to intimate that all leaders would have the same stances and opinions. For instance, there might be a leader out there with only 10 members in a city full of Juggernaughts to whom he answers. He might have varied and diverse opinions, but frankly I'm not going to remember them just on the back of him speaking about it in the streets. It's one thing for the everyday guy to put forward his two cents in the street - if a leader does this, they should be looking to back their words up with actions; in my opinion it's this which would give them their sense of individuality and character.

Neither would I say that to not visit the streets or the business districts is to not lead publicly. True, the coffeeshops are mostly the domain of OOC conversations and meetings, but it doesn't have to be so, does it? Take Roman, for example. Yes, he had quite the street presence but his opinions, views and stances would have been known regardless thanks to his meetings. For sure, sometimes on IRC he was Billy to his friends and discussed things personally, someone you could talk to as just a man, not a Godfather; and yet when he needed to be, he was Godfather Roman who dealt with issues in a manner befitting of his status.

Street presence is important, but I certainly don't think the lack of such should hamper someone's ascendency should they possess other skills and characteristics that I would deem to be more important in 'Making' a Leader.

Godfather Worley made a point that I thought was perfect for this speech - a leader doesn't comment in the streets because they have to, they comment because they WANT to, and that is what makes a leader.

A leader will never do things because they are compelled to by peer pressure.  Leaders typically have a particular quality - maybe a sixth sense - they know what they need to do and they do it. 

Do I think a street presence is important?  I do.  But the true leaders out there won't and shouldn't come to the streets because the masses tell them they should. 

Now - if the question has turned to were there too many crews in days past, the answer is absolutely. Will there come a time when we have that many crews out here again?  Most likely.  Why?  Probably because we feel compelled to reward those who have worked so hard for us. 

Interesting point that doesn't matter to most because I am but a lowly goomba:  I don't do what I do to become a crewleader.  Personally I think you are either born a leader or born a follower.  I do what I do to become part of and protect my family.  Nothing more, nothing less.  I serve at the pleasure of my leader and our city head.  That is all.  I don't do this so I can wear a different suit.  I do it because I was given the gift of a home and protection.  I work the rest of my life to repay that gift.

A leader will never do things because they are compelled to by peer pressure.  Leaders typically have a particular quality - maybe a sixth sense - they know what they need to do and they do it. 

Good, a leader shouldn't buckle under peer pressure and i'm not here to call anybody out. Nobody's aiming a gun at my head bringing me onto the streets.

And thats the point, you say most leaders will speak when they feel the need to speak. Yet seemingly don't want to or feel the need to, even when they should be having their voice heard. I've brought up a perfectly valid discussion point about the level of stagnancy that has plaqued our world over the months, and am intruiged to find some answers to stop the rot and help tackle the bigger issues of our world. I applaud the crew leaders that have shown willingness to entertain my drivel. Do I care if other crew leaders speak out on the matter, I couldn't give two hoots, but I think the silence speaks loudest of all. I hope i'm wrong and that there are grand plans and blueprints being drawn up in the background which i'm not privy too, and rightly so

if the question has turned to were there too many crews in days past, the answer is absolutely. Will there come a time when we have that many crews out here again?  Most likely.  Why?  Probably because we feel compelled to reward those who have worked so hard for us. 

And here's hoping your wrong. Being compelled too is no basis to offer out crews like a dentist offering out a lollipop for not crying in the dentist chair. We need to get out of the mind set of 'he or she made some good earning this month, he or she have said all the right things to me, he or she have a fuck ton of bodyguards' - lets give him or her a crew

Look at the bigger picture. Will they inspire, will they lead by example, how are they going to stamp their authority, what are their grand plans, whats going to set them apart. Does the city need another crew, are the existing crews brimmed to capacity. Just a few of many things that should be considered. I'm not referring that all and sundry come to the streets. As Sprozz has mentioned leaders should have a persona and characteristics, otherwise how will they ever be noticed and remembered

This is not me taking a dig at any leaders, and i'd hate for it to be percieved that way. This is me wondering what, if any changes we will see to the problems we faced which led to the demise of the last regime

Jax