Respect the Line Between Employees and Friends

All too often, the line between an employee and employer or a manager and a subordinate can become blurred. The employer and the employee may share the same hobby. The manager may become romantically involved with the subordinate.

A former mentor of mine, who was a very smart, successful guy, became too friendly with his head of research and development. They went to dinner and ballgames, and their families took vacations together. When my boss was going through marital trouble, he shared his thoughts with his head of R&D.

One day, a tremendous mistake was made by the head of R&D that cost the company millions of dollars. It really wasn't even the head of R&D's fault, but it happened under his watch. All of the goodwill and friendship went right out the window.

My mentor called in the head of R&D and fired him. The fired man walked out in a state of shock. My mentor warned me two hours before the firing, because he had insisted I hire the very competent wife of the head of R&D. ...