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Why Vito Succeeds Where Michael Fails | Godfather II and the Navigating Enneagram 8
Episode 18th January 2026 • The Enneagram in a Movie • Enneagram Arts and Entertainment
00:00:00 01:05:36

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Mario Sikora and TJ Dawe return with a new season of Enneagram in a Movie podcast, starting with a series on the subtypes. Every other week, they will focus on a subtype with a movie that captures it well. In this episode, they discuss The Godfather II, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, to explore the Navigating Eight. The 1974 film features a lot of Type Eight–Striving to Feel Powerful–with different subtypes. Mario and TJ dissect how the parallel storyline and different subtypes between the two significant characters–Vito, played by De Niro and Michael, played by Pacino–come into play as they try to assert and maintain power.

“This guy is all about power. He is not all about detachment. He is all about power and vengeance. This whole movie is about vengeance from the very beginning until the very end. The theme is vengeance. And that is the traditional fixation of Type Eight." - Mario [13:37]

“It’s very much like a Navigating nightmare is to be exiled, to be cut off completely.” - TJ [45:38]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:03] Intro

[00:49] This week’s movie

[05:00] Which movie’s better?

[09:06] Two Type Eight characters

[10:17] Striving to Feel Powerful

[12:34] Michael: Preserving Eight

[17:17] Type Eight in Vito

[23:09] The Navigating Domain

[28:10] Vito and the landlord

[32:52] Noticing and watching

[34:29] Other examples of navigating

[39:58] It’s the game that counts

[44:41] The theme of isolation and exile

[49:29] Mafia is very hierarchical

[52:41] How this could have played differently

[1:01:26] Other Navigating Eights

[1:04:37] Outro

Connect with us:

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Enneagram on Demand

The Awareness to Action Enneagram Podcast

Mario Sikora:

IG: @mariosikora

TikTok: @mariosikora

Web: mariosikora.com

Substack: mariosikora.substack.com

Book: How to Think Well, and Why: The Awareness to Action Guide to Clear Thinking

TJ Dawe:

Web: tjdawe.ca

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