I think that it is great when a subordinate has a close relationship with their boss. I think a good report builds trust in the organization and that trust and openness can lead to greater productivity. I also think that when the relationship is too close that it can create problems as well. I worked at one place that my boss always wanted to spend time with me and go out after work for dinner and drinks. This was nice once and a while but it got to the point where she would call me on the weekends to hang out and wanted to go out every single night. I started to feel like I was never really able to leave work. I also saw the effects of a superior-subordinate friendship with my fiancé and one of his employees. It got to the point where the employee would take advantage of my fiancé because they were friends and would not show up for work or come in very late. My fiancé felt bad reprimanding the employee because he was his friend. I think that as a boss you can have a close relationship with employees in which you go out once and a while outside of work or can share things with each other about your lives outside of the office but it must not become a friendship because that can fatally effect the entire relationship at a later time.
3 comments:
I agree with crives. While it is nice to be on friendly terms with your superiors, there are definitely drawbacks too. I have a friend who used to work for a boss that took up a lot of his time outside work. His boss would always asks him to go eat lunch with him almost every day and to go watch movies or go to the gym twice a week. I was really hard on my friend because he was truly trapped at work all the time. It got so bad that he would often lie about his plans and try to keep a low profile.
I agree with crives. While it is nice to be on friendly terms with your superiors, there are definitely drawbacks too. I have a friend who used to work for a boss that took up a lot of his time outside work. His boss would always asks him to go eat lunch with him almost every day and to go watch movies or go to the gym twice a week. I was really hard on my friend because he was truly trapped at work all the time. It got so bad that he would often lie about his plans and try to keep a low profile.
I used to occasionally invite my co-worker (who later became my assistant) to parties or gatherings I'd be throwing outside of work. I figured it was only polite, as I was telling her all about the plans as I was making them. Also, she already knew a lot about my friends, seeing as we talked at length about our weekends every Monday. She usually seemed agreeable to the idea, and would say things like, "yeah, that'd be fun - maybe I'll stop by!"
But she never did, and I never took it personally. For one thing, she did know a lot about my friends, and given the kind of things we talked about, she might have thought it would be awkward to finally come face to face with them after hearing so much. More importantly, though, I realized something - she spent forty-five hours every single week with me, more time than anyone except my husband, and even that was questionable some weeks. Why would she feel the need to see me any more than that, apart from the hilarity that might have ensued from adding large amounts of alcohol to the mix of our conversations? In retrospect, that was probably a boundary that was just as well left uncrossed for both of us.
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