I'd like to explore in more depth one of the themes I addressed in my video about The Godfather and the business world in Brazil.

How a brilliantly competent and ambitious, yet ethically questionable, executive can completely destroy an organizational environment — especially when the organization is led by a single manager whose personality permeates the entire structure.

The mafia Don knows that an ambitious and competent subordinate poses a potential threat to his position. That's why he always keeps a close eye on that subordinate's conduct.

In companies, however — especially Brazilian ones — this isn't the case.

An organization may have been founded by ethical individuals and structured to be managed transparently and with integrity. However, a single senior executive, highly competent yet unethical, can destroy the entire organization, specifically:
• Creating a toxic culture: fostering an environment of fear, distrust, and harmful internal competition.
• Manipulating and undermining leadership: establishing a negative climate for the entire company. This weakens management's authority and credibility, as employees perceive a disconnect between stated values and actual practices, making it difficult for others to recognize or report their harmful actions.

In Brazil, the principle that “those in power command, and those with sense obey” is so deeply rooted in the national psychological DNA that employees subjected to abuse and humiliation by superiors — if they perceive that the aggressor enjoys the manager's trust and protection — instinctively conform to the ancestral rule: they bow their heads and endure the abuse or simply resign.

The more brilliant the executive and the greater their capacity for manipulation, the more toxic their power to contaminate the organizational culture will be.

Even more serious: when there are family members in key positions, the unethical executive can pit one family member against another, causing deep rifts and resentments within the control core itself.

The problem can become even more acute when the manager and the toxic executive are of different genders. When the manager is a woman and the executive is a man, the latter can exert additional influence through veiled seduction, exploiting emotional vulnerabilities and creating an irrational and disingenuous charm. When the manager is a man and the brilliant but toxic executive is a woman, she can use compliments, flattery, and appeals to vanity as instruments of influence and control.

Thus, a super-competent yet unethical executive can contaminate an organization like cancer, spreading through metastasis — not only eroding the internal culture but also destroying decades-long relationships between colleagues, pitting them against each other, destroying trust and morale, and even relationships among family members.

No set of compliance principles can rectify a situation like this. Just as with a malignant tumor, surgical removal is necessary. The toxic executive must be terminated, and honest, ethical, and loyal employees must be valued, protected, and encouraged.

Growth may not be as rapid, and profits may not be as significant — but the organization will remain healthy, sustainable, and, above all, a dignified and pleasant place to spend most of one's conscious hours.

‍