Consigliere

Consigliere (Italian consigliere "counselor", pronounced [konsiʎˈʎɛːre], roughly kohn-seel-YEHR-eh) is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian, Calabrian and American Mafia. The word was popularized by the novel The Godfather (1972), and its film adaptation. In the novel, a consigliere is an adviser or counselor to the boss, with the additional responsibility of representing the boss in important meetings both within the boss's crime family and with other crime families. The consigliere is a close, trusted friend and confidant, the mob's version of an elder statesman. In some depictions, he is devoid of ambition and dispenses disinterested advice. This passive image of the consigliere does not correspond with what little is known of real-life consiglieri however. By the very nature of the job, a consigliere is one of the few in the family who can argue with the boss, and is often tasked with challenging the boss when needed, to ensure subsequent plans are foolproof.