????一周前，曾在HBO的熱播劇集《黑道家族》（The Sopranos）中扮演黑手黨大佬托尼?斯普拉諾的美國演員、艾美獎得主詹姆斯?甘多菲尼在羅馬去世，享年51歲。甘多菲尼在《黑道家族》中成功刻畫了一個非常矛盾但又善于自省的黑手黨大佬形象。這部劇不僅開辟了美劇的一個黃金時代，獲得了普遍的贊譽，也反映出正在日漸老去的美國“嬰兒潮”一代焦慮的內心。憑借這個角色，直到1999年該劇上映前還默默無聞的甘多菲尼一躍成為國際巨星。他的葬禮于上周四舉行。

????劇中的托尼?斯普拉諾是新澤西州的一個黑手黨大佬，不過他經常無端地感到恐懼，甚至還去接受心理輔導。這個形象引起了很多觀眾的共鳴，因為很多人也和托尼一樣，覺得自己生活在美國社會的衰落期，而不是“準備好從底層上升”。即便在“911”恐怖襲擊從根本上改變了這個國家的自我形象時，這部劇中仍然彌漫著讓人不安的陰暗色調。甘多菲尼扮演的托尼肩膀寬厚，眼神孤獨。他的諷刺挖苦中帶著典型的北新澤西式的牢騷，就好像是一個身份特殊而富有魅力的普通人。這部電視劇的出品人大衛?蔡斯說：“他的天才很大程度上是透過那雙悲傷的眼睛體現的”。

????同時，托尼?斯普拉諾還是一個管理者。這部劇整整六季的劇情中幫派斗爭起起伏伏，而戰略始終都是一個主要的情節發展點。等到大結局的時候，托尼的心理醫生——由羅林?布拉可飾演的詹妮弗?梅爾菲醫生總結道，她的治療本身只是一種欺騙，只是襯托出托尼的英勇。商界領袖們可以從托尼?斯普拉諾身上學到下面三個領導力智慧。

誰是老大？——來自第一季第四集：“世外桃源”

背景：托尼和他的叔叔小科拉德?斯普拉諾為爭奪家族控制權的斗爭愈演愈烈，逐漸有失控傾向，卡車被劫持，小弟被謀殺。與此同時，托尼還要費力地勸說她倔強的母親搬進養老院。

解決方案：由于斯普拉諾家族由一位老夫人掌權，梅爾菲醫生建議道，有時候不妨給長輩一種“控制的錯覺”，同事建議托尼可以把這一招應用到與他叔叔的沖突上。雖然托尼得到了家族其他長輩的支持，但他最終還是選擇了一種頗具外交手腕的解決途徑。他承認家族名義上由他叔叔掌控，實際上為他自己贏得了一些好處：避免了一場代價高昂的家族內戰；而且，作為回報，還從他叔叔那里獲得了一些收入頗豐的合同。最重要的是，“槍打出頭鳥”，他叔叔最后成了FBI調查的目標。

教訓：控制和“控制的錯覺”是兩種不同的東西。放棄虛名之爭，可以換來權力。就像托尼自己后來說的那樣：“一旦人們躺在床上飄飄然了，他就不會再出去奮斗了。”

????It's been a week since James Gandolfini, the Emmy Award-winning actor who played Tony Soprano on the HBO drama The Sopranos, died in Rome at the age of 51. Gandolfini's portrayal of a deeply conflicted but introspective mob boss was monumental in several ways: It not only launched a golden age for scripted television dramas, garnering universal praise, but it also tapped into the anxious psyche of the aging American baby boomer. It also made Gandolfini -- a relative unknown until the show's 1999 debut -- into an international star. His funeral services took place Thursday.

????The story of a New Jersey mob kingpin who suffers panic attacks and seeks counseling resonated with viewers who felt, like Tony, that they were living the decline of the American experiment -- rather than "getting in on the ground floor" as he put it in the pilot. The show dealt with the malaise and ennui head-on, growing darker, even as the September 11 terrorist attacks fundamentally reshaped the country's self-image. Gandolfini's Tony -- broad shouldered, eyes forlorn, his sarcasm tinted with that distinctly North Jersey whine -- became an unlikely but captivating everyman. As David Chase, the show's creator, put it, a great deal of his "genius resided in those sad eyes."

????But Tony Soprano was something else as well. He was a manager. Strategy is a primary plot point throughout the show's six seasons, as rival mobsters come and go. By the program's finale, in fact, Tony's therapist -- Dr. Jennifer Melfi portrayed by Lorraine Bracco -- concludes that her treatment itself was a kind of con all along, serving to hone Tony's prowess as a crook. With that in mind, here are three leadership lessons all business leaders can take from Tony Soprano:

Who's the boss? -- Season 1, Episode 4: "Meadowlands"

Situation: Tony's roiling conflict with his uncle, Corrado "Junior" Soprano, for control of the DiMeo crime family is threatening to spin out of control. Trucks are hijacked, footsoldiers murdered. At the same time, Tony is struggling to persuade his recalcitrant mother to move into a retirement community (a.k.a. a "nursing home").

Solution: As far as the Soprano matriarch is concerned, Dr. Melfi suggests that it is sometimes best to give the elderly the "illusion of control," advice that Tony applies to the conflict with his uncle. Though he is backed by the family's other captains, Tony ultimately seeks a diplomatic solution. He concedes nominal leadership of the family to Junior, carving out several advantages for himself: avoiding a costly intra-family war and gaining control of income-generating contracts as payment from Junior in return. Most importantly, Junior is set up as the target of an FBI investigation of the family.

Lesson: Control and the illusion of control are two different things. Letting go of the outright struggle for dominance can confer power. Or, as Tony puts it in a later season, "When guys are on the mattresses, they're not out earning."