"Number one" is a word with China characteristics, which means the highest leader who holds real power in a unit. Considering the tradition of "official standard" and "rule by man" in China for thousands of years, the power throne of "number one" is obviously attractive to the members of the organization. Therefore, to understand an organization, we must first understand the "number one", because the "number one" often determines the organization's goals, strategies and behaviors.

Under China's current system, the "number one" of the party and government organs is clear at a glance. For example, the party secretary of a region is clearly the "number one", while the governor, mayor or district head can only be the "number two". The top leaders of most state-owned enterprises and institutions are also very clear. For example, the chairman or general manager of a state-owned enterprise is the "number one", and they usually serve as the party secretary of the unit, otherwise the party secretary is usually the "number two". However, it is not so easy to define the "top leader" of an institution in China, which is a university. Article 39 of the Higher Education Law stipulates that "the institutions of higher learning run by the state shall implement the principal responsibility system under the leadership of the grass-roots committees of China * * * production party colleges and universities", and the Regulations on the Work of Grass-roots Organizations of China * * production party colleges and universities also clearly stipulates that "institutions of higher learning shall implement the principal responsibility system under the leadership of party committees". According to the above two laws, the Party Committee is the highest leading body of the university, and the president must be responsible to the Party Committee. The secretary is the highest leader of the Party Committee, which means that the secretary is the head of the highest leading body in colleges and universities. However, the Higher Education Law also stipulates that "the president of an institution of higher learning is fully responsible for the teaching, scientific research and other administrative work of the institution" (Article 41) and "the president of an institution of higher learning is the legal representative of the institution of higher learning" (Article 30). Since the main responsibility of a university is teaching and scientific research, and the president is the person in charge of teaching and scientific research and the legal representative of the university, it is reasonable for the president to become the "top leader" as the highest administrative leader of the university.

From a purely academic point of view, the interesting point of this question is: since both the president and the secretary can be the actual leaders of the university, why are some university presidents the "leaders" and some university secretaries the "leaders"? The more interesting question is, if the secretary should be the "top leader" according to the "principal responsibility system under the leadership of the Party Committee", that is, the secretary has "real power", then under what conditions can the principal who occupies the second place break through the formal regulations and obtain "real power"?

Second, the characteristics of the "number one" principal