On being 'Number 2'

Number 2; Second in command (2IC) ; Deputy; Chief operating officer (COO); Vice Principal select as you please but being the Number 2 is perhaps one of the most challenging positions there is to be in any organisation.

Over my own career I can think of three occasions when I have been the senior person who inhabited that role and function, and yes – they were as challenging as people make out.

Throughout the following exploration of this role?I will use the simple nomenclature of Number 1s and Number 2s. It is for the reader to transpose these terms into their own context, e.g. COO, Deputy Chief Executive, Vice Principal, etc.

The Ceannas Classification of Number 2s

1.????????????????????The Doer

2.????????????????????The Planner

3.????????????????????The Wise Counsel

4.????????????????????The Other Half

5.????????????????????The Counter Balance

6.????????????????????The Star Player

7.???????????????????The Diplomat

8.????????????????????The Mechanic

9.????????????????????The Successor

10.?????????????????The Transformer

At the heart of all of the above roles is the notion of complementarity, whereby the Number 2 provides something different from the Number 1, but seen together they add up to more than the sum of their parts for the overall benefit of the organisation.

Secondly, a Number 2 will never simply inhabit one of these roles but will switch from one to another as requirements dictate. Nevertheless, it is possible to use the Ceannas Classification as a means to describe the key roles an incumbent fulfils, or perhaps more importantly, the roles that an organisation needs them to fill in order to complement the existing Number 1.

1.???The Doer

The Doer gets things done. Effective Number 1s recognises that it’s not their job to get involved in the delivery side of the business. The Number 1 identifies the strategy and it’s the Doer’s job to implement and translate that into action.

2.???The Transformer

Sometimes it’s the role of the Number 2 to transform a feature of the business leaving the Number 1 to maintain a stable and outward facing perspective that gives stakeholders confidence during a major time of change.

3.???The Wise Counsel

On occasions organisations appoint a number 1 – or that Number 1 is a founder of a business – who for all their brilliance would benefit from having someone as their Number 2 who they could turn to for advice and counsel.

4.???The Counter Balance

It is a feature of the Ceannas Leadership Index that it often identifies a leader’s ‘weakness’ to be an over-reliance one of their key assets. For example, some leaders are exceptionally creative but approach every problem from the point of view that a new idea or creative process will provide the solution. The Counter Balancing Number 2 will often have a different set of leadership assets that provide a complementary perspective that enables even better decisions to be made.

5.???The Other Half

Some executive leadership pairings between the Number 1 and 2 resemble the best features of a marriage or civil partnership. The other person completes the individual through their presence. They ‘get’ the other person in a way that others don’t. Such leaders work best when working in a deep partnership with another person and see their leadership role as being something that they do ‘together’ – as opposed to any idea of hierarchy.

6.???The Successor

The idea of the Number 2 as the natural successor to the Number 1 is not an unusual occurrence. On occasions the Board or employing organisation will seek to appoint a Number 2 in order to make that future transition as smooth and trouble free as possible. Not that such an appointment can ever be a guarantee but certainly many Number 2s are seen as the person ‘most likely to’. Organisations who set great store in retaining or sustaining the organisational culture will often see the appointment of the Number 2 as a deliberate part of their succession strategy.

7.???The Star Player

Some organisations realise that the only way they can retain the services of an outstanding individual is to promote them to the role of Number 2.

8.???The Diplomat

Some Number 1s have a tendency to wreak havoc as a consequence of their mercurial behaviour and dynamic attributes. Such leaders need a Number 2 who has the necessary diplomatic skills to smooth things out and peacefully resolve difficult situations that might have been caused by the leader, so that the overall organisational strategy is not compromised.

9.???The Mechanic

The Number 2 who fulfils the role of the Mechanic is someone who understands the nuts and bolts of the business and how these interact as working parts. The mechanic can assist the Number 1 to fix the machine if it’s not functioning in an optimal manner, or, more importantly, knows which levers to pull in order to make it work even better.

10. The Planner

All too often the Number 1 can be so focused upon achieving their strategic goal by a given date that they ignore the need to achieve things in a logical, sequential and compliant manner that does not put the achievement of that strategy, or the long-term survival of the organisation at risk. In such circumstances there is a strong need for a Number 2 who fulfils the role of the Planner.

A Licence to Operate

Of course, the appointment of the most suitable Number 2 is only 50% of the challenge, for such a relationship to really add value to the Number 1 and organisation the relationship must be characterised by what we refer to as a ‘Licence to Operate’.

It is best to think of a ‘Licence to Operate’ as a negotiated bond between two people that sets out how each of them will behave.

There are five elements that must be resolved if such a bond between a Number 1 and their Number 2 is to be effective:

1.???Clear and explicit expectations from the Number 1 about what they require from their Number 2 and what the Number 2 can expect from them;

2.???The establishment of a clear and regular line of communication between the two individuals;

3.???The delegation to the Number 2 of real and visible authority across the entire business and regular exposure to Governing Body/Board;

4.???Agreed permission to speak with candour and honesty – especially from the Number 2 to the Number 1;

5.???Always backing up the Number 1 in public.

These might seem to be a simplistic set of guidelines but you would be amazed how often the relationship between a Number 1 and their Number 2 is not characterised by any of the above.

Yet where the two individuals set out to live by the above – regardless of the nature of the type of the relationship between the two as captured by the Ceannas Classification – then great things can happen.