Lessons from the Hell’s Angels: Taking Care of Business

I read a wide variety of subjects growing up. One of them was criminology, especially around the myriad varieties of criminal gangs. Asian street gangs, The bloods & crips of LA, MS13 and the Italian mob. But the one that stands out are the motorcycle gangs. The Hells Angels and Bandidos. Starting off as war veterans riding Harleys together and exemplified by Marlon Brando & his “The Wild One”, classic movie of bike gang terrorizing a small town. They represented freedom from society’s norms and doing whatever you want in the most negative form. 

Of course, over time they became a very scary and effective criminal enterprise that got involved in arms dealing and the illegal drug trade. Our modern day Viking band. 

Members who do the tough jobs like killing an enemy of the club earn the “Expect No Mercy” tab “& respect in the org. In fact you probably cannot move up in the organization without it. A leader of the club wears the TCB badge which is “Taking Care of Business.” 

Something about this harkens back to the old medieval days where war bands marauded around the world following the directions of the toughest and most capable warlords. The ultimate in survival of the fittest. You took leadership and only stayed on top by being the biggest badass and bringing the war band opportunities to get gold and loot. 

But the minute this stopped you would be challenged by those internally or externally who thought they could do better. There was no quiet retirement here. You died with a weapon in your hand. These warriors were tough people, they had to be to run a group of warriors like this. 

So how does this relate to the modern & civilized world? As I’ve stated many times, humans are not that far removed from the tribal monkey brain humans back then or far from the criminal gangs. Your job at heart as a startup founder or manager of a business group, is to TCB. Create and manage the business. And just as important you have to take care of your people! In fact, next to taking care of customers, if you don’t take care of your team, you probably won’t be able to keep the customers in the long run. Happy & motivated employees make for happy customers. In other words you took care of business.

I think we can take a clear lesson from this. I’d take this even further from this amazing true life story from online persona Bobby Dino during a prison riot he was in. “I saw in that moment, how everything was, and how everything would be.  You’re on your own.  There wasn’t anyone coming to save you, cops included.  You had to watch what you’re doing at all times, and, when the time comes, you handle your business.”

Very wise words to heed: Take care of your family!  Take care of your friends! Take care of your neighbors! Take care of yourself! TCB: Take care of your business!