This Is the Hardest Person to Find In Business, So You Should Try to Be the Best One
These people are rare.
“There are two types of people: those who do the work, and those who take the credit. You should try to be in the first group. There is much less competition.”
Most people dream of scoring the winning point at the last second. Or throwing the touchdown. Or playing the lead in the play. Or giving the rousing speech. Or standing on top of the podium in triumph. Or being the entrepreneur making the amazing pitch. We want the big victory while we are leading the pack.
Most of us want to be those people.
But there is another type of person that nearly no one dreams of being.
For every person who achieves massive success, there is someone else is just as important.
This person rarely gets the glory. And rarely makes the big waves or splash.
But this person is essential in nearly every success.
Every organization.
Every victory.
Every winning team.
Needs someone like this.
Unfortunately, in my experience, this is the hardest person to find.
If you are struggling — wondering what to do and how to do it — then you should be open to becoming this type of person. And being the best one that you can be.
. . .
Small Roles Have Can Have Massive Impact
“One of the interesting things is, the most gifted people, the biggest people, have no problem taking small roles.”
— Woody Allen
Years ago, I learned a great lesson — from, of all things, a high school musical.
An injury had prevented me from playing soccer in my junior year of high school.
So I auditioned for a play.
I got a great part.
And I became an actor nearly overnight.
I enjoyed acting. But it seemed that in high school, so many of the acting opportunities required a special skill — a skill I did not have: singing.
My first musical experience was as the rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof. I sang three notes. And I was terrible. The leads in the musical could master a song in a few minutes. The music director spent an hour with me on three notes.
It was depressing and extremely motivating at the same time. I loved acting, but I realized that if I did not learn to sing, my acting career was going to be extremely short.
The next year’s musical was going to be The Sound of Music, and I needed to get ready. I took voice lessons for the entire next year. I worked especially hard since it was my senior year. My sister was a junior and is an amazing singer, and I thought it would be so cool to get a part where I could sing with her.
After nearly a full year of practice, lessons, and lots of singing, I went to the audition. I was insanely nervous, and I made a few mistakes, but I thought I actually did a good job.
But when I looked up the assigned parts, I was not listed. Until the very end. I did not receive a singing part. Apparently my three notes as the rabbi were too difficult for this year.
I was cast as Franz, the Nazi-sympathizing butler. I spoke only two words a few times during the entire show. “Yes, sir,” is all that I said, as I walked onstage, and then walked off.
I viewed this casting as a failure. My months of practice resulted in no real benefit. And someone else sang a duet with my sister, instead of me. Watching rehearsals was painful and discouraging.
Even though I only had a small part, the truth is this: the best teams have players that fill their roles extremely well — even if the role is small.
A movie is not good just because the main actor or actress performs amazingly. Each of the supporting characters has a chance to make the movie better. Each supporting player makes the team better.
One good actor does not make an entire play or movie great. But when every actor is good, the entire final story can be great.
And one bad actor, actress, or teammate can make the entire production fail.
That is the truth.
. . .
Even the Strongest Vision Needs Support
“Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
My friend Jerome Vierling is an amazing leader. His organization is incredible and impresses me every time that I interact with it. Years ago, Jerome had no followers and could barely call himself a leader in any sense of the word. But he desperately wanted to support the vision of his local church. His initial sole goal was to support his local leaders and do whatever they asked. At first, he assisted in whatever way possible.
As he explained to me, his only goal was to support the vision of his leaders. He bought into the leaders that surrounded him, and then he chose to support that vision. He did the lowliest tasks. He volunteered for jobs and positions that others did not want. He was content to serve the team that he was a part of.
It was by serving intentionally and completely that Jerome built a following and developed other leaders who would eventually follow him. And it was only be serving incredibly that he eventually came to a point where he had to start his own organization because his leaders forced him to!
In his own words, “I was never focused on being number one. I only cared about supporting the vision of the people around me.”
Jerome is a perfect example of the hardest type of person to find: the person who supports the vision of another.
Another friend of mine, Brandon Ansel, has built an entire career around being the best “number two” in any organization. He has created an incredible professional career from supporting other people’s vision as a business consultant. He essentially goes into a business, and then systematically gives advice, support, encouragement, training, and expertise that rapidly grows the business and results in massive value for the stakeholders. He is a machine. And he only gets paid when he is successful.
Brandon’s entire life is built upon and focused on doing one thing: supporting the vision of other entrepreneurs.
The stories of Jerome and Brandon inspire me to remember: never be afraid to support someone else’s vision. The rising tide raises all ships.
The hardest person to find in business, from my experience, is the person who supports the vision.
So be that person.
. . .
The Real Job: Protect the Judge
“The protection of a man’s person is more sacred than the protection of his property.”
— Thomas Paine
In law school, I worked as an intern law clerk in the chambers of a federal judge. It is one of my favorite experiences of my entire legal career.
On the very first day, the judge’s full-time clerk told me something that I will never forget:
“Your job is to protect the judge.”
She elaborated.
The judge has the ultimate duty and responsibility to make the best — and right — decision in each matter before him.
She described the judge as brilliant but not infallible.
My job was to make the judge look great with my work, but also to protect him.
There is no way he could read every case and research every issue. There was just not enough time.
Since he couldn’t do everything himself, he needed people like me (and her) to make sure that he had access to every relevant case and piece of research.
If someone in his chambers made a mistake, he was the one who would look bad or take the heat. He would stand — with his reputation and name on the line — on the back of my research and work.
Therefore, my job was to give the judge the right information for him to make the right decision.
In essence, my job was to protect the judge. It was not to make a decision for him, but to give him all of the information for each side of the dispute, so that he could make the best decision possible.
Protect the judge, and I would do a great job.
This conversation, and the later work that I did for the judge and for this clerk, gave me an appreciation for the type of person that I am writing about in this article.
This person supports the vision and purpose of someone else.
This person contributes to a team goal rather than only a personal one.
This person takes responsibility for the success of someone else.
This person realizes that supporting someone else’s vision actually builds his or her own success as well.
This person works hard for a goal that might result in the no recognition for him or her — and all recognition for someone else.
This person works in the background, and works long and hard.
This person is not chasing personal glory, but he or she is chasing excellence.
This person is rare.
Yes, it is rare to find a person who will support the vision, dream, and destiny of another person.
And when you find these people, you need to celebrate them.
And if you can’t find one, you might need to be one.
. . .
Every Part of the Team Is Important
“Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors.”
— Constantin Stanislavski
Not getting a chance to prove my ability to sing crushed me — initially. I wanted to show everyone that I could sing more than three notes. I wanted a chance to sing with my sister. It was my senior year and most likely, this would be my last chance, ever, to perform publicly.
I was crushed.
And also angry.
But the anger led to the lessons:
Every role is important.
Every interaction is an opportunity to impact someone.
Don’t let my ego get in the way of giving to the team.
The anger led to this:
I channeled the anger into the character.
I transformed into the disgruntled, angry servant who secretly despises his master and only looks forward to the day when he sees his master fall.
Of course, none of this happens in the story, but that was how I portrayed the character.
Even though I only had to say two words ‒ ”Yes, sir” ‒ I said them in a way that was so dry and dead pan that people could not help but laugh.
My pain associated with getting that part turned the simple character into one who provided a much-needed laugh at multiple points in the story.
In short, I learned to support the team. I learned that my role had a purpose. I was not going to be the star. I was not even going to be someone who had a decent-sized role.
But I learned that sometimes you have to support the rest of the team. Sometimes you have to support the leaders. Sometimes you have to do the best you can with the role that you are provided.
Small roles can have a massive impact.
Even the strongest vision needs support.
Every part of the team is important ‒ not just the leader.
People that realize the above are difficult to find in life, business, and anything else.
So if you can’t find one, be one.
. . .
Learn the one lesson that has changed my life more than any other.