April 17, 2008
‘I don’t want to be typecast as a bag-carrier’
I 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.
Bit worried that you have to ask, to be honest - sounds like you still have to convince yourself you’re more than a bag-carrier. Take the initiative - propose one or more new projects to your boss, and make sure you lead these yourself. This will help you establish a distinctive status in the eyes of both him and the rest of the team.
Posted by: Helen - Accountant, female, 45 | April 17th, 2008 at 8:58 am | Report this commentIt depends what ‘director’ and ‘deputy director’ mean in your company, and how many other ‘deputy directors’ there are. Is your boss a real director - on the board - or is ‘director’ just a fancy title for a middle manager? If the former, your chances to shine are exactly the tasks that don’t interest him. By appearing at meetings for him and showing your competence, and by giving memorable talks in his place, you can get yourself known to many people who will be useful when you’re ready to move on. Don’t focus only on your boss’ job.
Posted by: John - consultant, male, 49 | April 17th, 2008 at 9:31 am | Report this commentDeputies are the management equivalent of eunuchs. They can provide useful ancillary services but never get to father the Sultan’s child. Of course if they actually show any desire to take a participating role in the business side of the harem then the Sultan will claim the child and the deputy will find that more than appendages will be cut. My advice is to take the role but ensure that you get a new one or a new job and leverage off the title.
Posted by: Mike Ungenannter | April 17th, 2008 at 12:27 pm | Report this commentHow have you reached this position in risk management if you need others to calculate the risk for you relating to the new job?
Brian, 72, male, retired
Posted by: B J Whale | April 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pm | Report this commentDon’t want to be a bag carrier? I suggest you never get married. Professionally, just follow your heart and your greed will guide you.
Posted by: Brian | April 17th, 2008 at 3:03 pm | Report this commentI would assume that you now have more exposure to other departments and senior management. You should have more responsibility to the big picture, such as set strategy and priority for your 30 people organization. So I would figure out what the expectation is about the department, what should be done to the department and what resources I have if I were you.
Posted by: jin | April 17th, 2008 at 3:04 pm | Report this commentMake lemonade; shine by shining in those speeches, and offering insightful ideas in meetings. Demonstrate you can extend the department’s presence by excelling in tasks he dislikes. After a time, offer to take over an area he truly disdains. Couch that as both a service to him, and valuing his mentoring as part of your executive development. That will focus the appointment context issue.
Mr. Dimon of JP Morgan vaulted himself back to the top of your industry in some goodly measure by rationalizing the Banc One, 1st Chicago, NDB, etal. back office mess; an unsavory task upon which few others would have risked their professional reputation. He saw a great opportunity. Make lemonade.
Consultant, male, 59
Posted by: Alan Rohrbach | April 17th, 2008 at 3:40 pm | Report this commentA former colleague of mine once said that he had learned only one lesson in business life: never take a job with the word “deputy” in the title.
A good deputy, he explained, must be fiercely loyal to the boss in public and a bold truth-sayer in private. So subordinates will dislike the deputy for both their boss’s failings and the deputy’s. The hapless deputy will share blame for all the management team’s mistakes, even if he or she privately disagreed, while the boss will take credit for all of its successes, even if they were the deputy’s idea. The deputy will also be given all the unpleasant, menial and difficult tasks.
My advice: take the job only if the director is sufficiently luminous to cast a light in which you, too, will shine.
Posted by: Martin Wolf | April 17th, 2008 at 6:26 pm | Report this commentHow about doing a good job of representing your bank at the meetings he doesn’t think are important enough to attend himself and giving good speeches that are not important enough to give himself to prove to him and others that you are competent to do his job when he gets promoted or sacked?
Posted by: John | April 17th, 2008 at 10:01 pm | Report this commentThat is how to test whether you have the skills.
I suppose that shows my age. Nowadays HR department is supposed to assess your ability to fly based on walking style and no-one (except Alan Rohrbach)cares whether you actually do the job for which you are paid.
John, consultant, 61
I suggest you enroll in the Dick Cheney School of Puppeteering. If you do, you’ll be pulling the strings in no time.
Posted by: Mutulu | April 18th, 2008 at 12:00 am | Report this commentMutulu, 47, percussionist
If you have to ask its a non job.
Any job with deputy,assistant etc in the title sends a message ”not really in charge of anything”.
If you want power turn it down, if you want to have lavish expenses and damn all responsibility (which most people would hate after a few days) take it.
Posted by: MR | April 21st, 2008 at 3:44 pm | Report this commentFirst of all, do you have a job description? It should contain all exact duties you have to fulfil and according to labour contract you don`t have to do anything else exept these duties (I hope in your country it is also so). Moreover, you should behave as a DEPUTY, not PA or a bag-carrier, just let your boss know it from the very beginning otherwise he may get accostomed to your bag-carrier role.
Posted by: Anna,23, female,market analyst | April 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 am | Report this commentAs you were not persuaded to take the deputy job by the prospect of one day stepping into the big man’s shoes, then in all probability such a promotion is not on the cards.
Being a deputy can be a career enhancing move if your boss is a high flyer. Do a good job and he will probably take you with him on his rapid ascent of the corporate ladder. Your best strategy is to be 100% loyal and help his star shine brightly. This is a good preparation for top management in any case.
Showing you are a capable deputy may well put you at the head of the queue for the tastier “special projects” that come along. My guess is that there will be plenty of opportunities to show what you can do and build your reputation. You just have to get over that problem with your ego that makes you twitchy at being called “Deputy”.
Chris, 55, male, VP
Posted by: Chris | April 22nd, 2008 at 12:05 pm | Report this commentMake lemonade; excel in tasks he dislikes. Offer to take over an area he truly disdains. Couch that as both a service to him, and as part of your executive development.
Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan vaulted himself to the top partly by rationalising the back office mess – an unsavoury task on which few others would have risked their professional reputation. He saw a great opportunity.
Posted by: Consultant, male, 59 | April 24th, 2008 at 7:58 am | Report this commentTitle means nothing. If you think and act like a bag-carrier, you will be one. If you think and act like a director you will soon be one.
Posted by: CEO, male, 52 | April 24th, 2008 at 8:00 am | Report this commentHow have you reached this position in risk management if you need others to calculate the risk in this new job?
Posted by: Retired, male, 62 | April 24th, 2008 at 8:01 am | Report this commentDeputies are eunuchs: they can be useful but never get to father the sultan’s child. If they show any desire to take a bigger role in the harem, the sultan claims the child and the deputy will find that more than appendages will be cut.
My advice is to take the role and use the title to get a new job.
Posted by: Anon, male | April 24th, 2008 at 8:03 am | Report this comment