| The most vital challenge of a deputy, or No. 2, is to understand his
leader very well. This is because a No. 2 cannot achieve his goals at work unless he knows the leader better than anyone else, both in relation to work and personally. The duty of the No. 2 is to assist the leader and help him overcome his weak points both in the field of work and personality, and to utilize and highlight his strengths as much as possible. A leader should continue to push ahead. He should exercise his rule within the company with all necessary preparations made so that he does not need to look over his shoulder while pushing ahead. If he worries or feels insecure about his followers, his power of running against the powerful winds and raging waves of business challenges coming towards him would be weakened. His brain is always very busy making minute calculations like a computer, sometimes to estimate risks and formulate elaborate operations to eliminate them and sometimes to conceive and implement new businesses plans. Thus, another major task of the No. 2 is to establish a environment that allows the leader to perform his work smoothly. The No. 2 needs to constantly sort and filter information and keep his boss informed as much as possible, not only of developments and conditions within the company, but also of information from outside sources and every possible direction. At the same time, the No. 2 should help the leader to control his emotions so that he feels relaxed enough to maintain a clear and balanced perspective. This is another crucial role of a No. 2. In order to achieve this, the No. 2 must maintain a total and unconditional relationship of trust with the leader. The No. 2 cannot afford to make the slightest mistake or slip-up and must have an excellent and genuinely virtuous personality. If a leader has a No.2 with whom he can always reveal his true thoughts and feelings, the leader will be able to work actively as he knows he has a good home harbor. This is the same as a plane being able to fly high and land freely when it has a good airport to depart from and land on. At times, however, airport runways become damaged due to the vigorous take-offs and landings of the airplane. But the No. 2 is required to have, I firmly believe, generosity and broad-mindedness so that the plane or the leader are freed from caring about the damage of the home harbor. It may be true to say that the success of a leader is in the hands of the No. 2, rather than in his own hands. |
| You cannot work with those who have too much self-esteem and who have different values from you. |