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Should Leaders Be Friends With Their Employees?

Should Leaders Be Friends With Their Employees?
by Roberta Matuson

I received an interesting question the other day from a woman who was watching my LinkedIn Learning course on Managing Up. She asked me how to handle managers who are emotionally dependent on their employees.

These are managers who need to be friends with the people they supervise. They take offense when they are not invited to join the team for lunch. They want to be included in your social circle and chat about your personal life.

I’ll explain how I suggested she handle this situation, but before I do, let’s take a closer look at the problem.

Too often managers want to be liked by their people when, instead, they should be seeking respect. I advise my coaching clients to create boundaries between themselves and the people they manage. It’s important to do so for a number of reasons.

Here are a few:

#MeToo

You have to be living under a rock not to be aware of the #MeToo movement that is taking hold across America. Even the perception of a misplaced glance can result in disruption of what may have been a very successful career. Why put yourself in this situation?

Occasionally socializing with team members after work is acceptable. However, taking offense when an employee doesn’t include you in her social circle is not.

Read full article on MultiBriefs.