It's Hard to Be #1

I served as a #2 at my previous employer, and it was a hard job. I
had to be ready to be a fill-in for our #1 whenever the occasion
called for it, which meant I had to be able to be just as good as our
#1 at all times. And I had to be the go-to person internally, in
terms of being on top of all things operational. That's a lot of
responsibility.

And yet it was ten times easier than the burden our #1 bore. You see,
when you're the #1, you are the organization. You may get all the
credit, but you also get all the blame. And more importantly, you get
all the headache. Boundaries are much harder to set, because the
expectation is that you are the face, the voice, the incarnation of
the organization. The buck stops at your desk.

And that all is a big burden. Take it from a former #2: it's hard being a #1.