Funny how you bring up Michael Corleone, Spud. The great irony to me in watching that film series is that the Corleones killed off a bunch of their own people for various reasons. If you kill off a bunch of your own people, eventually your numbers are not strong enough to fight off your enemies. Michael watched his circle of trusted allies get smaller and smaller as more and more people "betrayed" him.

When Cooper was promoted, everyone said what a great guy, he was a "player's manager" etc. and two years later a number of them hate his guts. Did Cooper change or did he suddenly stop being a "great guy" only when he was given the responsibility that could affect their careers?

It may be "strictly business" but sometimes being "family" makes it easier, not harder, to motivate. Each has their own dangers. The "strictly business" types find they get little loyalty in return while the "family" types find that emotions influence their decisions too much. Finding the balance is more difficult than it looks.

I go back to that line in North Dallas Forty where the wide receiver played by Nick Nolte is being railroaded where he responds to the head coach's criticism that he wasn't putting the team ahead of himself. "Team? We're not the team!", then pointing towards the owner and the front office, "THEY'RE the team. We're just the parts."

"We don't do anything easy. We're the Astros." - Craig Biggio