Whenever I watch an old Tonight Show on television I get the feeling that Ed McMahon never regretted his position as Johnny Carson' s "second fiddle" (a colloquial show business term meaning an understudy or support person for a leading man or woman). For the uninformed, The Tonight Show was one of the most popular late-night talk-variety shows in television history. It aired for thirty years, from 1962 until 1992, and is still in syndication. Ed McMahon was Carson' s announcer and inspired straight man for Johnny' s many jokes, and purveyor of the legendary "Heerrrrrres . . . Johnny!" introduction.
I wonder if many vice presidents, vice chancellors, cochairs or coanchors, or anyone in a second position are like Ed? Are they proud to be second fiddles? Or are they secretly envious of the people they serve? Sure, some are less supportive than others, but on the other hand, some really respect and fully support the leader-star. In reality they may actually be thankful that they are not the leader. Al Gore and Bill Clinton reluctantly come to mind. (For the uninformed, Al Gore was vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001, serving under President William Jefferson Clinton.) In this case the second fiddle may have been very thankful he didn't have to take the blame or assume all the responsibility when things went wrong (or terribly wrong as the case may be!). Of course, neither do second fiddles take the kudos or bows when things go well. It seems to me, especially as associate editor of the HRDQ, that in carefully watching Ed McMahon there are several things to learn from being a good second fiddle.
First, Johnny always gave Ed a chance to shine, to show off his talents. Good leaders give people a chance to show what they've got, to flex their creative or research and writing muscles and show what they can do. Second fiddles also get the opportunity to watch and learn. I noticed that the more Ed and Johnny were together the funnier Ed got and the more chances he would take with his humor-without upstaging Johnny. Of course, we never really knew what was going on behind the scenes, but a good team rarely reveals what' s going on behind the scenes or the curtain. The audience or the readers typically see only the results-the good stuff, the funny stuff. They never see the bad jokes, the missed timing, or the "bloopers." Leaders and their second fiddles work all that out long before the audience sees them.
There is also the assumption that there is some reciprocal respect between the star and the second fiddle. It was obvious that Ed had a great deal of 123