Negotiation Lessons From Former Wiseguy, Michael Franzese

Thirteen years after his release from a federal penitentiary and after successfully walking away from a life in the Mafia, former crime boss Michael Franzese sat down with interviewers to discuss negotiation. The interviewers focused on the application of current academic thought to the unique negotiations in a Mafia-run business setting. The interviewers found a very competitive environment in the Mafia businesses, as was to be expected. However, an unexpected finding was that one of the most successful negotiators in this competitive environment was not competitive, but collaborative. In fact, the anecdotes related here will demonstrate that Mr. Franzese was a very successful negotiator in part, because he was a collaborative negotiator.