How can I become my boss’s best guy?
Just for context, my boss is 40 years old, 7 of us 8 employees are 25 and under and one is 29. I’m 24, my rival is 18, the current team lead is 22, we’re all young. It's a modular housing company, and it's doing quite well for being so new.
My boss really likes me. When we first met he realized how similar we are and he hired me because of that. I don’t have a lot of work experience because from childhood to college I was convinced I wanted to be an engineer and spent all my time studying. I never even considered the trades. I am definitely not built for working outside long term, especially here in a tropical climate. I’m getting stronger, and I’m not weak, but my best feature is absolutely my brain. I'm good with interior stuff like trim, flooring, finishes, and my best work is design work or the videography and editing I just started doing for the company.
My boss also really likes my rival. Before I knew him I knew of him. He and his family were moving from our old country into our current country, and I suggested him to my boss because I knew how hard it was for me to find a job and wanted to be helpful. Only reason I suggested him was because he was a farm boy, and I figured extra strength is never a bad thing on a job site. Turns out he's also quite clever, and because he's a farm boy from a formerly Mennonite family, he's already got a decade of work experience. He is however, very young, and his immaturity shows in various ways.
Just yesterday my mom dropped by the site on the way out of town to give me something, and she and my boss talked for 15 minutes. He once again (without me present so I know it's not just ego stroking) expressed how similar we are, saying "he's exactly like me". In the conversation my mom mentioned how she was concerned by some of my rival's action and behaviors that demonstrate his immaturity, and that he isn't ready for a leadership role yet. My boss agreed, and said he's warned him multiple times to be more careful, slow down, and not try to work endlessly, but that he's just such a good worker he doesn't want to get rid of. My boss told my mom that my rival and I are like his right and left hands, that I'm very good at solving problems but my rival can too. I'm clever and very smart, he's clever and has experience.
When my boss and his wife (she does admin and legal work for the company) were interviewing me he mentioned his potential long term, 5-10 year plan is to retire with a fat chunk of change and leave the company to me. He even said it again last week right in front of my rival. A few months ago when the other 6 guys were teasing me in Spanish for not wanting to get covered in mud and not yet being strong enough to lift a big ass rock, my boss said to me "they're teasing you but they know you're gonna be their boss eventually", but I'm not sure if we knew my rival was clever yet at this point. They also told me when I was hired that I would be learning it all, the entire business, and would work with my boss at first on the builds and then with his wife in admin eventually, and during the talk with my mom he said that his wife wants me now but he needs me for another 3-4 months. I know for certain he never made such deals with my rival.
I don't know if he's said the same kinds of things about "leaving the company to you" to my rival in private, but I doubt it. I think he's destined for team lead or even division lead as we branch out and put teams in further areas of the country, but I'm destined for something a fair bit higher in the chain of command. But to be safe and ensure my success, how can I outshine my rival? He's got a decade of physical experience, I've got about 1 year broken up over 5 years (covid, couldn't hold a job). How can I become my boss's right AND left hands, and is it even a good idea to try and become both?
