Number 2

Number Two

Although we have been trained otherwise, being number one isn’t always the best. Two is greater than one. Would you rather have a one-dollar bill or a two-dollar bill? By the way, I haven’t seen one of those in years. I would wager that some of my younger readers may not even know that a two-dollar bill exists.

Think about the number two pencil. Warmer weather always signaled the end of the academic year which meant that assessment tests were looming. I was never instructed to bring a number one pencil to the test. My teacher always required two, number-two pencils. Sharpened and ready to fill in the bubbles completely.

Finishing number one in a race is fabulous but finishing second usually has a prize, too. Second place at the Olympics will land you a silver medal instead of a gold medal. Personally, I like silver better than gold. I’m not a proponent of sandbagging it for the silver but I am saying that your winning strategy may come down to personal preference.

In baseball, second base is better than first base. And two runs are better than one.

Consider the canary in the coal mine. Miners would turn them loose to fly into the mine shaft - to go in first. If lethal gases were present, the canary would die and that would be the signal for the miners not to enter. Second place in the mineshaft is a matter of living.

Yeah, I know what they say; “the early bird gets the worm”, and that implies being first, but I am proposing that you allow this thought to swim around in your brain space for a minute. Being first isn’t always the best position to be in.

Servant leadership implies that you are never number one. A servant leader always puts others first. The interesting phenomenon that occurs is that those that are last become first. I’ve seen this play out a hundred times or more in the church and in the business place. Some of the best leaders I worked under practiced this concept well and it was a magical experience of growth and success.

It’s not always easy to put others before self, especially when others take advantage of your servanthood for their own gain, again and again and over again. It is true, we teach people how to treat us but I still believe in people. I believe selfish people are fewer than unselfish people so we can spot those problematic folks and create healthy boundaries with them.

Boundaries or not, lead by example. Show the world that you can step aside, sit backstage, and serve from the number two spot. The world can be a coal mine and sometimes we need to yield to let the canary fly first.

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