Far too often when people talk about the topic of leadership they focus their minds-eye on the person at the top of the organisational pyramid, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or President, or if we go one rung down the organisation, the Head of division or department.
Many students of leadership know that leadership should not be about position. Kevin Kruse, CEO of LEADx and author of ‘Great Leaders Have No Rules’, described leadership as a process of social influence which maximises the efforts of others, towards achievement of a goal. Yes, this could be a CEO of a company, or Chairman of a board, however it could very well be a garment worker, rallying her co-workers to demand safe working conditions in a Bangladeshi apparel manufacturing factory. Leadership could also take the form of an off-duty nurse taking charge, as a first responder, directing people at the scene of an accident before paramedics and police arrive.
Source: Media from Wix
Leadership as an attribute should be something that we all should aspire to have. It is like aspiring to be proficient, or influential, generous, trustworthy and sincere. It’s about caring, achieving goals with cohesive teams, building each team member and replicating more leaders. Leadership is not positional, nor should it be about power, self-fulfillment or control. Having said this, there are many types of leadership styles, where in a couple of styles at least, power and control are unfortunately a leader’s modus operandi. Wikipedia describes seven different styles. These are briefly described below.
Autocratic – where the leader is the sole adjudicator of decision making and vision making. Traits include one-way and downward communication, control and dominating discussions.
Paternalistic – where the leader acts as a parental figure by taking care of subordinates as a parent would, thereby receiving complete trust and loyalty from team members.
Democratic – where the leader shares the decision making process with a management team, promoting the interest of the group and considers the social implications as part of the decision process.
Laissez-faire – where leaders allow followers complete freedom to make decisions of their work, while offering guidance and support when requested. Usually team members are professionals and are already skilled in what they do.
Transactional – where the leader focusses on motivating followers through a system of rewards and punishments. Here the leader establishes and standardises practices to help the organisation reach its goals, improve productivity and grow in maturity.
Transformational – where leaders create a vision and communicates this to inspire others with a sense of purpose and excitement. Giving them reasons to follow. Their objective is to change or transform their follower’s needs and redirect their thinking towards the vision.
Narcissistic – where the leader is all about self. Their priority is themselves at the expense of their group members. Character traits include arrogance, dominance and hostility. They are driven by their egotistic need for power and admiration.
It is well and good to have these types of leaders, for better or for worse, but I was thinking as I was preparing for this month’s essay, what about their second-in-charge or 2IC? What must a 2IC have to be able to support a leader?
Source: Pixabay
Recently I was watching a Netflix series titled, ‘Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan’. In short it was about the unification of Japan from the mid-1550s. Prior and during this period of Japan’s history, a feudal system of land ownership was prevalent. Daimyos as they were called were feudal landlords with vast hereditary land holdings. Villages were subjugated by these daimyos who were ruthless in their administration over them. There were many feudal families spread across the island of Japan and the position of daimyo would be handed down, not necessarily by family lineage. You can imagine the countless skirmishes that would break out if someone in the family did not like the result.
The story centred around three characters who, today are referred to as the three ‘Great Unifiers’ of Japan.
The first ‘Great Unifier’ was a daimyo by the name of Oda Nobunaga. He was a ruthless leader, self-driven with scant regard for anything else.
What prompted me to consider the topic for this essay was the decision he took to establish his ‘organisation’, by that I mean his ‘management’ hierarchy after he succeeded his father and took charge of his clan.
In order for him to control his clan and subordinates, and to achieve his ambition, as he knew he could not do it himself, he appointed two deputies who would work with him to achieve his goals. This realisation came after he was challenged soon after taking charge. He survived, but his ambition was greater than simply taking charge of the clan as he was after the control of the Emperor’s residence at Kyoto, and ultimately the whole of Japan.
At that time there were feuding clans battling each other for territory and wealth all across Japan. Oda Nobunaga had to first battle these clans who were in his way of accomplishing his mission.
Oda Nobunaga set out to identity two samurai deputies who displayed the attributes akin to his own. These attributes included:
Loyalty
Warrior skills/Talent
Experience
Strategic thinking
Risk taking
Leadership skills
The two deputies were Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. These two characters in Japanese history eventually succeeded Oda Nobunaga and became daimyos in their own right. Each played a vital part in the ultimate unification of all clans across Japan which brought lasting peace across the island. Together with Oda Nobunaga, all three were acclaimed as ‘Great Unifiers’ of Japan.
Source: Lorenzo from Pexels
In today’s highly competitive ‘dog-eat-dog’ world of corporate affairs, digital competition, online vs brick-and-mortar retailing, the ever changing consumer demands for the latest fashion, tech toy or gadget and global market fluctuations, the position of second-in-charge or 2IC is a key position for any CEO or Head to give careful consideration to.
Derin Cag, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Richtopia, a digital content platform, in July 2020 wrote, “CEOs often get a bulk of the credit for the success of a business. While they do deserve the credit they receive, the people working below them behind the scenes are often the real people providing massive value to their companies. New research from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that it’s possible to learn more about business leadership from the second-in-command executive, rather than the CEO of a company”.
While I won’t get into a debate on Cag’s last point about the PNAS research, it is worth acknowledging that the PNAS is the world's most-cited multidisciplinary scientific serial, publishing high-impact research reports, commentaries, perspectives, reviews, colloquium papers, and actions of the National Academy of Science of the United States.
So what should a CEO, Head or Chairman of a board be looking for in a person who is going to be a second-in-charge of a corporation? As mentioned at the beginning of this essay, the same attributes could be said of a person who is going to be 2IC of a division or department within a company or in any organisation for that matter.
I believe the first attribute that a second-in-charge should display is loyalty. The Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga saw loyalty as a key attribute which both his deputies had displayed.
2ICs need to show the same level of unfailing loyalty to their CEO if they are going to earn the trust of the CEO and the rest of the team members in the organisation. Team members must know that the 2IC has loyalty towards the CEO, to prevent any mischief making by playing one over the other.
Ziad K. Abdelnour, Financier and Author is quoted as saying, “Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three”.
In a 2001 research paper by Dr. Fabio Sala, Hay/McBer Boston, titled ‘It’s Lonely at the Top: Executives’ Emotional Intelligence Self [Mis]Perceptions’, it was reported that as managers move up within an organization, there are fewer “sounding boards” that provide opportunities to get feedback from others. Therefore, because of this, higher level managers [e.g. CEOs] may have less opportunity to calibrate their self-perceptions against those of others.
The 2IC to the CEO in this instance plays a critical role in providing a balanced view of things which may not be ‘visible’ to the CEO. A strong relationship of trust and respect between the CEO and deputy will ensure that any ‘blind-spots’ that the CEO may have is illuminated by the 2IC for the success of the enterprise.
Another attribute that a CEO should consider when appointing a 2IC is the skills and experiences that the 2IC has, especially where these skills may be lacking, or at best be less pronounced as the CEO would like to have it for himself or herself. The two positions should complement each other. The greatest success is often found in partnerships where each person’s strength is accentuated and weaknesses in either one is worked around. And where a person’s weakness is a partner’s strength, the results from such a partnership are exponentially increased.
This was true in Oda Nobunaga's case. Despite his leadership skills, he was not battle harden and did not have much experience in strategic warfare against other clans. The deputies he appointed were, and they in turn complemented each other.
In recent Australian political history two partnerships come to mind which produced significant achievements and benefiting results for the country. The first was the Hawke-Keating (Prime Minister-Treasurer) partnership from 1983 to 1991, and the other was the Howard-Costello (Prime Minister-Treasure) partnership from 1996 to 2007.
In the commercial world, we all know of the partnership of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak which founded Apple Inc. in 1976. Also to a lesser known, though significant pair in Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Williams joined Google, after Blogger was sold to Google, and while at Google Williams hired Stone. When Williams left Google for Odeo.com, Stone followed, which led to the founding of Twitter in 2006.
For the CEO-2IC partnership to be successful, it is important that the roles and responsibilities for both positions are clearly defined at the outset. While it would be unusual for the 2IC to wander into the responsibilities of the CEO, often guarded with sign-off authorities and protocols, there could be the real tendency for the reverse to take place.
Once the CEO’s role is defined, the role of the 2IC becomes more obvious. Anytime the CEO begins to stray into the role of the 2IC, with the level of mutual trust and respect already established, the 2IC needs to refocus the CEO on to the higher-value work that only the CEO can do. Only then will the CEO truly let go of the day-to-day activities of the organisation.
Source: Media from Wix
Once in the role, one of the biggest responsibilities of a 2IC is to report back regularly.
A dramatic failure evident in the story from ‘Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan’ manifested itself after Toyotomi Hideyoshi ascended to power after the death of Oda Nobunaga. He had then become the de facto ruler of Japan. With the country unified, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had the misplaced ambition to expand his reign across the sea into China. This was during the reign of the Ming Dynasty. The one blocker in Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s way was the Korean peninsula. After being rejected to use the peninsula as a military route to China, Toyotomi Hideyoshi became angry and decided to go to war with the Koreans. The battles which ensued were not only with the Korean army but it also included battling the combined Korean and Chinese forces.
The tragedy for Toyotomi Hideyoshi was not only on-the-battlefield when reports were not regularly received by him, but when reports were delivered, his commanders were falsely reporting that they were winning the battles and were making progress towards their ultimate goal. When the Chinese delegation arrived in Japan to meet with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he was totally stunned and infuriated to learn of his army’s defeat that he abused the delegation and chased them back China.
While it is said that failing to report back on an assignment is like telling someone part of a story without sharing the ending, telling a false or half-truth story has incalculable consequences which could bring down the organisation, its reputation or even its Stock Exchange share price.
Reporting regularly closes the communication loop and reduces the anxiety that the CEO will naturally have on major projects or initiatives at stake, who, at the end of the day is the person ultimately accountable for the assignment or project. Providing regular feedback allows the CEO more mental capacity to focus on other areas where they can provide the greatest value to the organisation.
In his leadership blog, Michael Timms, Author, Speaker and Trainer, gives five things to be included in a 2IC update to the CEO.
Remind the CEO of the problem,
Present the solution that has been implemented,
Provide a status update on the progress of the solution,
Give an estimated time when the solution will be completed, and
Inform the CEO that the 2IC will only provide another status update on this issue if there are any major problems.
To be able to report back, the 2IC straddles both the office of the Chief Executive and the team members on the ‘factory floor’. The personality of the 2IC has to be one that is adaptable in speaking the ‘languages’ of the various ‘communities’ in the organisation. The 2IC has to have a sense of empathy in understanding the groups or individuals that the 2IC is speaking to, and be able to relate to them without being patronising in the process.
Source: Tiger Lily from Pexels
This is why when seeking out a 2IC it is important to consider a person who has gained experience from growing up through the ranks, however not necessarily within the organisation but within the industry. This could be an advantage to the CEO-2IC partnership that can win many followers to the cause of the company's plans, not the least re-enforcing credibility and respectability of the 2IC role.
Michael Timms adds another practice for a loyal 2IC to follow. Timms suggests that the 2IC be bold and courageous to assert their viewpoint but once a decision is made, to champion the outcome.
Predicated on the foundation of trust and respect, the CEO should be open to receive different perspectives and opinions, especially when a decision has not yet been made, and where parties are in a forum of brainstorming and ideas generating.
Nothing is more frustrating for a CEO than for the 2IC to say “yes” to everything offered up by the CEO. However, it can also be challenging for the 2IC in such a position, as this requires a high degree of emotional intelligence and maturity to have the open dialogue with the CEO. The CEO too has to be receptive to an opinion which may defer to theirs.
Once the debate and discussion is over, and the CEO has arrived at a decision, the 2IC has to recognise that it’s the moment when the 2IC “steps onto the bus”. It is no longer an open subject or discussion point, but it becomes a decision that has to be actioned and to bring forth the expected results.
Source: Media from Wix
What this will demonstrate to team members of the organisation is solidarity between the CEO and the 2IC. One positive consequence is, if team members receive a direction from the 2IC, it could well have been delivered by the CEO. Integrity of the 2IC is another key attribute, which will be re-enforced through this process.
There may be occasions when the first time the 2IC hears of something new from the CEO is in an open forum. While it may be rare, and if this should happen where the CEO is canvassing for opinions or views, the 2IC should be bold enough to voice an opinion in such a forum, even if they may differ from the CEO views.
This will not only demonstrate to the wider team of the genuine role the 2IC plays, but it could also encourage other team members to offer varying ideas and opinions.
The 2IC should not take offence to such a scenario happening, however if there was any doubt, speaking to the CEO behind closed doors would be the most appropriate process to follow. This could further demonstrate to the team of the collaboration and openness between the CEO and the 2IC.
Another attribute of a valuable 2IC in an organisation, is the work ethic demonstrated through commitment and diligence. As we described earlier in this essay, getting the roles and responsibilities clear up front is very important for the role of the 2IC.
Even if a CEO is poor at delegating, especially evident in organisations where the CEO is the founder of the company, the 2IC should be able to step in and suggest where certain activities should be delegated away from the office of the Chief Executive. Some examples of this include the procurement of stationery, or coffee and biscuits for the office pantry. While these may be trivial and laughable, there are other instances where leaving decisions to the experts, for example the colour scheme for the next brochure insert, would be more productive and morale lifting than if the marketing department was waiting for the decision to come from the CEO.
In as much as the 2IC can assist in clearing the ‘to do’ list of the CEO where these activities do not align with the CEO’s unique role and value to the company, the 2IC too has a responsibility to delegate to appropriate lower level team members. The 2IC should not end up being a bottleneck in the process. The 2IC must be constantly evaluating the delegation process and decision-making authority.
Source: Jonathan Borba from Pexels
Where possible the 2IC should delegate to as low a level as possible in the organisation. This will ensure a collective responsibility by all concern, develop skills of team members, create an efficient organisation, and becoming effective without unduly delaying with multi-layered management sign-off processes.
Peter Drucker is credited with saying, “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things”.
The 2IC has to have this mental alertness at all times when serving the CEO and the organisation.
In conclusion, I would like to quote Dr. Mark van Vugt who in 2011 published an article in Psychology Today, entitled ‘The five rules to becoming a great deputy’. He poses in a five-point statement, suggesting that to be a great deputy, admired by the boss and underlings alike, the 2IC should stick to these rules:
Be loyal to the leader - or, be his first follower. Anything else looks like betrayal.
Work hard to fulfil his objectives.
If you want to be a leader, keep your ambitions hidden
When you take charge, look and behave like a leader
And, if your desire to be the alpha male (or female) is overwhelming, move to a different organisation that can accommodate your raging ego.
Returning to the Netflix story ‘Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan’, each of the two deputies appointed by Oda Nobunaga had their own ambitions, however while there was the leader, they did not do anything to subvert his authority. They performed as required of a loyal and faithful deputy.
When Oda Nobunaga died, the role of daimyo fell to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. While Toyotomi Hideyoshi had other commanders that let him down, Tokugawa Ieyasu remained part of the Council of Five Regents which was appointed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi as he neared the end of his life. Two years later after his death, Tokugawa Ieyasu took control and became the founder and first shogun (de factor ruler) of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until 1868.
A similar outcome occurred with Australia’s Treasurer Paul Keating, who succeeded Bob Hawke as Prime Minister in 1991.
While ambitions are generally kept hidden, when it comes to succession, there can usually be in-principle agreements discussed between the CEO and 2IC, as was the case with Hawke and Keating.
If a 2IC cannot wait and has an overwhelming desire to lead from the front as CEO or President, then for the stability of the organisation, it is best, as van Vugt suggests, that such an ambition be pursued with a different organisation.
Leadership blogger Michael Timms concludes his piece by saying that it takes a rare breed to be a great 2IC. He adds, some might say it’s a thankless job. 2ICs must check their ego at the door to show the rest of the organisation what it takes to be a great follower. Whether 2IC’s aspire to eventually move into the top job or not, there is no question that being a great 2IC provides a fantastic training ground for it.
Source: Matheus Bertelli from Pexels
To all who are aspiring to be at the top of their respective hierarchical pyramid, always consider the opportunity in the role of 2IC, or even 3IC, as training grounds for greater things to happen in due course. It does not matter what the organisation is, there are 2ICs in ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) listed companies, commercial organisations, small and medium enterprises, Not-For-Profits, and even church and religious organisations. The attributes of a 2IC is equally applicable, at department level, divisional level or organisational level.
Remember leadership is not about position. Leadership is an attribute that everyone can work hard to achieve.
Take on these encouraging words from Vince Lombardi who said, “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile”.
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