This is the fourth in a series of posts sharing business lessons learned from the movie, AMERICAN GANGSTER.
Setting the Scene:
“Blue Magic” has transformed Frank Lucas from a nobody to a somebody. Business is booming and Frank needs people he can trust to run his daily operation. For years Frank was estranged from his large extended family in Greensboro, North Carolina. However, family is family and he trusts his brothers and cousins to help him expand his heroin business. The Lucas family is uprooted from Greensboro to live and work in the new family business of “Blue Magic” heroin.
Leadership Qualities
Frank’s brothers, Melvin, Huey, Dexter, Turner, and Terrance, were new to the drug business and to the informal social rules of street life. They needed mentoring, just as Bumpy Johnson once mentored Frank.
Frank spent quality time with his brothers teaching them everything he learned about growing a business, earning respect, and being honest. His brothers were in total sponge mode, soaking up every last drop of streetwise wisdom from their older brother.
In this pivotal scene, Frank Lucas shared the core necessities his brothers need to become successful businessmen:
Frank’s core business leader necessities include: Honesty. Integrity. Hard work. Family. Never Forgetting your Roots.
Plus, as evident in that scene, a business leader needs to make Bold, Audacious Moves in order to become a somebody.
