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Should Leaders Have Friends at Work?
Written by: Donna KarlinArticle Overview: Relationships are essential, the core of the commercial world yet it's not uncommon for executives to avoid 'friendships' with co-workers. They often fear that having personal relationships in the workplace might compromise their ability to make tough decisions. So should Leaders have friends at work?"
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Should Leaders Have Friends at Work?
Recently, a colleague asked me the question "Should Leaders have friends at work?" He went on to say "Relationships are essential, the core of the commercial world yet it's not uncommon for executives to avoid 'friendships' with co-workers. They often fear that having personal relationships in the workplace might compromise their ability to make tough decisions. So should Leaders have friends at work?"
As a few of my clients are currently living the ramifications of befriending someone at work in one case and bringing in a friend to work in her department in another, which has caused a meltdown through the ranks, I thought it not only relevant but important to start a discussion on this topic.
In all my experiences working with leaders, having friends at work does not serve them or the people who they befriend. For a point of clarification the leaders I work with are political leaders (federal), government leaders, corporate leaders and business leaders. Each area has different dynamics and chemistry so to speak. Whenever a leader befriends someone in the organization, it impacts the other individual especially in areas of trust both from their colleagues and the staff. It also identifies that person as "leader's pet' which brings up a whole new set of issues.
So what's the answer?
Be friendly. Don't befriend. And if you work for the organization's leader, again be friendly but do not become friends with the boss.
Staff wants leadership, direction, empowerment and growth from their leader. They do not want a best friend, at least those who want to evolve for the right reasons.
"Leadership is not magnetic personality-that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people"-that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." - Peter F. Drucker
Nowhere in there, nor in any other words of wisdom does it ever state that leadership is being staff's best friend.
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Article Tags: business leaders, clarification, co workers, colleague, colleagues, corporate leaders, empowerment, federal government, flattery, friendships, government leaders, magnetic personality, meltdown, personal relationships, political leaders, ramifications, s vision, span style, style text, text decoration
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About the Author: Donna Karlin RSS for Donna's articles - Visit Donna's website  Donna is an author, speaker and lectures internationally. Her work has been written up in Fast Company Magazine, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Personal Success Magazine. Her blog Perspectives™ is avidly read by subscribers from 144 countries and she has currently authored and released the book Leaders: Their Stories, Their Words. She is a SupporTED coach, on the team that coaches TED fellows, is Past President and current Dean of the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations and a member of the Advisory Council for International Adademy for Behavioral Medicine, Counseling and Psychotherapy She has a proven track record in developing sustainable leadership. For tips on how to choose a coach click here Click here to visit Donna's website  
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