Why you should wear number 2

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Charlie Munger was Robin to Warren Buffett’s Batman, a business equivalent of the Edge rocking with the Bono of investing.

Munger, who died Tuesday at age 99, played one of the toughest roles in the corporate (or any) world: No. 2.?

Succeeding as second in command takes a rare blend of confidence and humility, say people who’ve done it. The consummate right-hand person must be devoted to organizational success while accepting that someone else’s star will always shine brighter.

As a kid, I played sandlot baseball and proudly wore number 44 on my Monterrey Braves uniform. Most games the few diehards in the stands saw it on my back since I spent most of the time on the bench. It was good training since, as a doctor, my patients spent time looking at my back while I was typing on a computer to enter mostly worthless information into an electronic medical record.

Many years later I moved up the career depth chart and wore number 2 as assistant this, vice-that, associate-whatever.

Being number 2 is a good gig.

1. There is not as much reputational risk
2. You learn a lot
3. It's less stressful
4. It helps you overcome toxic psychopathies like perfectionism and overachieving
5. “It took me a long time to wise up that [Buffett] had a better way of making a living than I did,” Munger told CNBC in 2021. “But he finally convinced me that I was wasting my time.” Me too.
6. Done right, you feel valued. Done wrong, you get fired or forced out.
7. It develops your ability to find a sponsor, the real boss, to successfully launch intrapreneurial ventures
8. You get to ride the coat tails of someone who knows a lot more than you
9. It sometimes pays more than being number one in both tangible and intangible ways

10. It's cheaper than a divorce

If you get to choose wear number 2. The best players to wear 2 as their jersey number have crafted strong legacies with it. The number 2 has become one of the most popular jersey numbers across a wide variety of sports. As a result of that popularity, many of the best players in basketball, baseball, and football have donned the number.

Wear it with pride.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack and Editor of Digital Health Entrepreneurship