Winston Wolf can teach us about Management and Leadership

I was in graduate school when Quentin Tarantino blew our minds with his successful film “Pulp Fiction”. As a Generation Xer, this film hit on all the zeitgeist buttons we had recently become aware we all shared. It was hard hitting, brutal, gritty, graphic, violent, and gory. It was also cleverly written, with a dark hilariously insightful humor perfectly placed throughout, partially to make it easier on film-goers to tolerate the rest. The story, the use of time-shifting narrative segments to accentuate the connections between the story lines was unusual at the time. The characters, as brilliantly portrayed as they were written, brought people to life that most people do not see and were all memorable and quotable.

As a fan of such crime movies, its obvious eventually that there are many needs for a cleaner and a fixer as, unlike in white collar crime, organized street crime tends to leave more disruptive and visible evidence. There would have to be a standard way to deal with these messes, intentional ones to set a message and mistakes alike. For the especially complicated messes, there would likewise need to be someone to deal with them, to have special expertise and resources matured over time of a successful career. Winston Wolf, played by Harvey Keitel, was the character that stood out for me in the movie. He was that special elite, white glove cleaner that served the crime boss in the movie.

Absent the crime, blood and guts, this would come to be a role I would come to serve for my bosses in my own Management Consulting career. I would invoke The Wolf when people asked me what my role was on a project I had shown up on. I eventually took on the brand of “The Fixer” of which I am proud, especially when people referenced that character with me 🙂

Time has passed and the pressures of experience are fermenting knowledge into wisdom. So much so that I see how easily life lessons can be found everywhere, especially when you need it if you know how see hit. An example is Winston Wolf. I have seen many pieces extolling his virtues as a viable, vivid demonstration of Management in action. This piece is meant to show his additional strengths as a Leader, an accountable party to the outcomes of the organization.

Note: dirty words have been removed as a courtesy.

AN EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE

GAINS THE KNOWLEDGE NEEDED

Asks, “What needs to be done?” and “What is right for the enterprise?”

Winston Wolf is talking on a phone in a bedroom, with an occasion in the background. The Wolf has a small notepad that he jots details in.

THE WOLF
(into phone)
Is she the hysterical type?
(pause)
When she due?
(jotting down)
Give me the principals‘ names
again?
(jots down)
Jules….

We see his book. The page has written on it:

1265 Riverside Drive
Toluca Lake
1 body (no head)
Bloody shot-up car
Jules (black)

THE WOLF
“…Vincent…Jimmie…Bonnie….”

He writes:

Vincent (Dean Martin)
Jimmie (house)
Bonnie (9:30)

THE WOLF
“Expect a call around 10:30. It’s about thirty minutes away. I’ll be there in ten.”

CONVERTS KNOWLEDGE INTO EFFECTIVE ACTION

Develops action plans. Takes responsibility for decisions. Takes responsibility for communicating. Focuses on opportunities rather than problems.

A luxury Acura arrive in ten minutes at the house where the main characters, Jules and Vincent, are hitmen who accidentally killed someone in their own car while driving, are hiding in the suburban home of an old associate.

The Wolf : You must be Jules, which would make you Vincent. Let’s get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. If I was informed correctly, the clock is ticking, is that right, Jimmie?
Jimmie : Uh, one hundred percent.
The Wolf : Your wife… Bonnie comes home at 9:30 in the AM, is that right?
Jimmie : Uh-huh.
The Wolf : I was led to believe that if she comes home and finds us here, she’d wouldn’t appreciate it none too much?
Jimmie : [laughing] She wouldn’t at that.
The Wolf : That gives us exactly… forty minutes to get [the ****] out of Dodge. Which, if you do what I say when I say it, should be plenty. Now, you’ve got a corpse in a car, minus a head, in a garage. Take me to it.

ENSURES ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Runs productive meetings. Thinks and says “we” rather than “I”.

Mr. Wolf, Jules and Vincent are preparing to get into the cars to depart the residence.

The Wolf : Now boys, listen up. We’re going to a place called Monster Joe’s Truck and Tow. I’ll drive the tainted car. Jules, you ride with me. Vincent, you follow in my Acura. We run across the path of any John Q. Laws, nobody does a [*******] thing unless I do it first. What did I just say?
Jules : Don’t do [****] unless.
The Wolf : Unless what?
Jules : Unless you do it first.
The Wolf : Spoken like a true prodigy. How about you, Lash LaRue? You think you can keep your spurs from jinglin’ and janglin’?
Vincent : Look, Mr. Wolf, my gun went off, I don’t know why, and now you’re helping us out of the situation. I’m cool with it, all right?
The Wolf : Fair enough. Now I drive real [*******] fast, so keep up. I get my car back any differently than when I gave it, Monster Joe’s gonna be disposing of two bodies.

SHOWS APPRECIATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE HELPFUL

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

We see The Wolf and Jimmy, sitting together in the master bedroom.

“I understand that this had been the home of your Uncle Conrad and Aunt Ginny, and that had left it to you, is that correct, Jimmy? Were your Uncle Conrad and Aunt Ginny millionaires? Well, your Uncle Marcellus is. And I’m positive if Uncle Conrad and Aunt Ginny were millionaires, they would have furnished you with a whole bedroom set, which your Uncle Marcellus is more than happy to do. I like oak, myself. You look like an oak man, Jimmy.”

Winston Wolf is the consummate professional Fixer.

He is attentive, clarifying, commanding, engaging, relentless and respectful. He asks good questions and approaches his craft methodically and strategically, until it is done. He understands the business his clients are in, and is resourceful in bringing solutions that solve their pain quickly and permanently.

The book I am referencing is The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker, which should be required reading by anyone who wants or needs to make things happen. It is by no means restricted to those in ‘executive ranks’; it is directed at those required for successful execution. That is all of us, by the way. 🙂