Leadership and Friendship
By LindaOH
@LindaOHio (158688)
United States
September 27, 2019 1:40pm CST
All my life I've heard that if you become a manager or a supervisor you can't be friends with your employees. I knew this; but I still wanted to make friends...and it turned out badly!
As Steve Jobs says, "If you want to make everyone happy, don't be a leader. Sell ice cream." He's 100% right. Because that's the only way you can please everyone. Trying to be a leader and a friend has never worked for me. My "friends" never lasted past my job. It was a sad lesson.
Have you ever had this experience?
Photo Credit: An email that was sent to me by a friend.
7 people like this
8 responses
@DianneN (247216)
• United States
27 Sep 19
My husband was an excellent leader when he was chairman of two departments at his university. He was tough, but fair. We are still good friends with most of the faculty and staff. He was re-elected every year as chairman until he retired.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Sep 19
I am not a tough leader with my employees unless I have to be. When I hire a new employee, I meet with them personally and give them my expectations, and the consequences for not following those expectations. You live up to those expectations, I am the nicest boss in the world. Fail to meet those expectations, well then things can get a little hot.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Sep 19
Very well said. Leadership isn't about making friends. It's about leading your people and getting the job done. At any given time, I manage about 100 people. In years past, I tried to create friendships with some of them. Actually made things harder. But, I will say that after some of my employees have left the organization, I have maintained contact with them and a few have become friends. But that was after they were no longer working.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Sep 19
@LindaOHio I've only had a few employees over the years that tried to suck up to me as their boss. I shot that crap down very quickly.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (158688)
• United States
28 Sep 19
The problem that I had was that NONE of them were friends after I left my employment because they were all just sucking up to the boss. They had no interest in me anymore.
1 person likes this
@psanasangma (6098)
• India
28 Sep 19
Partially agree with you . Being a leader means a responsibility as well as management,
1 person likes this
@Alexandoy (65308)
• Cainta, Philippines
27 Sep 19
I had been operations manager for many years and one time I hired a friend. He was not doing well and always in the pantry. It was sad that I had to terminate him for bad performance.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129681)
• Israel
29 Sep 19
@LindaOHio
I was not a manager but acting and people really did not listen to me. Steve Jobs is right but I want to do something else with my life and not sure what. I have seen how managers and supervisors wanted to get to the top so they forgot where they came from down below so they acted very badly and wanted to get rid of people.
1 person likes this
@MihaelOla (14)
• Nigeria
3 Oct 19
My boss is an excellent leader and also a friend who you can confide in. When its time for a business he doesn't joke it with either should you, also when it is fun time he plays and jokes a lot.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (36594)
• Toccoa, Georgia
27 Sep 19
My husband believes this one hundred percent with his job.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (40650)
• United States
27 Sep 19
I'm not a natural leader, so it hasn't been a ptoblem for me.
1 person likes this
