Back to Dear Lucy homepageI am working in a big commercial bank, within the global risk department (30 people) and have recently been appointed as deputy director.
This should be a nice thing: it suggests my boss recognises that I have the necessary skills to take over as director when he moves on. But my fear is that this “deputy” role is really just being a “personal assistant” to my boss - attending the meetings he doesn’t want to attend and giving talks he doesn’t want to give, etc.
Could you give me some clues on how to shine in this role as a deputy, and avoid being typecast as a bag-carrier?
Risk manager, 34, male
Lucy’s Answer
I am afraid you’ve got it wrong. You say the fact your boss has chosen you as deputy suggests he thinks you the right man to take over when he goes. It suggests nothing of the sort. The job of a deputy is not to succeed the chief when he quits or gets fired. It is to mind the shop when he is away and, when he is not, to do all the things he doesn’t want to do.
There are two sorts of bosses: secure ones who choose a bright number two and train them as a possible future number one, and insecure ones who choose a competent number two who is no threat at all.
I don’t know which sort your boss is, but I suspect he may be secure or else he wouldn’t have chosen someone as pushy as your problem makes you sound.
You now have two constituencies to impress: your boss and his bosses. The first matters most, since if you aren’t pleasing him, he’ll fire you. Don’t snap too obviously at his heels. In fact, don’t snap at all. Be loyal. Never undermine him. Carry his bags willingly, but make sure your luggage trolley is big enough to carry your own as well. Go to all those meetings with a good grace. Set out to balance your boss’s weaknesses. I know one boss who is brilliant strategically, but is hopeless at jollying people along. He wisely chose a deputy who does all that for him and who has now acquired a reputation as a great and popular manager.
Whatever happens, don’t stay in the job for too long. Deputies who have been around for ages start to yellow around the edges. And when a chance for promotion comes they get passed over as safe, dull and stale. Luckily that staleness doesn’t carry over to a new employer.
Deputy director (at least in your mid-30s) looks pretty on a CV. Unless yours is a bank with so very many directors that even the cleaning lady has been made one.
