consigliere

Consigliere ( , ; is a position within the administrative structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word consigliere was popularized in English by the 1969 novel The Godfather and by its 1972 film adaptation. In the novel, a consigliere is an advisor 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. A consigliere functions as an advisor to the boss in a Mafia crime family, and sometimes as their "right-hand man". 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. 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.