What to do when you become your friend’s boss

Benjamin Laker; Charmi Patel; Ashish Malik; Pawan Budhwar

What to do when you become your friend’s boss

Benjamin Laker, Charmi Patel, Ashish Malik, Pawan Budhwar

Research output: Other contribution

Abstract

With the amount of time we spend with our coworkers, it’s understandable that we develop strong friendships with some of them.

Friendships can get tricky when the power dynamic changes and one person in the friendship becomes the boss.

Research shows that 90% of first-time managers have struggled to navigate the boundaries between being a boss and a friend, and more than 70% have lost friendships since becoming a manager.

To effectively manage the transition you should: 1) Acknowledge the power shift; 2) Accept your new role; 3) Be consistent and fair with your team members; 4) Don’t let emotions get in the way of tough decisions; 5) Manage how much you share on social media.

Original language	English
Type	HBR Ascend blog
Media of output	website
Publication status	Published - 24 Sept 2020
Externally published	Yes

Publication series

Name	HBR Ascend
Publisher	Harvard Business Review Press

Access to Document

https://hbr.org/2020/09/what-to-do-when-you-become-your-friends-bossLicence: Unspecified

2 Chapter

What to do when you become your friend's boss - especially when you know a little too much about each other
Laker, B., Patel, C., Malik, A. & Budhwar, P., 14 May 2024, Bosses, coworkers, and building great work relationships. Goldstein, E., Gallo, A., Wilding, M. & Rogelberg, S. G. (eds.). Harvard Business Review Press, p. 101-108 (HBR Work Smart Series).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Open Access
File
What to do when you become your friend's boss: suddenly, you know a little too much about each other
Laker, B., Patel, C., Malik, A. & Budhwar, P., 22 Feb 2022, Making real connections: women at work discussion group toolkit. Gallo, A., Edmondson, A. C., Opie, T. R. & Clark, D. (eds.). Harvard Business Review Press, (HBR Women at Work Series).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Open Access
File

Cite this

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title = "What to do when you become your friend{\textquoteright}s boss",

abstract = "With the amount of time we spend with our coworkers, it{\textquoteright}s understandable that we develop strong friendships with some of them.Friendships can get tricky when the power dynamic changes and one person in the friendship becomes the boss.Research shows that 90% of first-time managers have struggled to navigate the boundaries between being a boss and a friend, and more than 70% have lost friendships since becoming a manager.To effectively manage the transition you should: 1) Acknowledge the power shift; 2) Accept your new role; 3) Be consistent and fair with your team members; 4) Don{\textquoteright}t let emotions get in the way of tough decisions; 5) Manage how much you share on social media.",

author = "Benjamin Laker and Charmi Patel and Ashish Malik and Pawan Budhwar",

year = "2020",

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day = "24",

language = "English",

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T1 - What to do when you become your friend’s boss

AU - Laker, Benjamin

AU - Patel, Charmi

AU - Malik, Ashish

AU - Budhwar, Pawan

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Y1 - 2020/9/24

N2 - With the amount of time we spend with our coworkers, it’s understandable that we develop strong friendships with some of them.Friendships can get tricky when the power dynamic changes and one person in the friendship becomes the boss.Research shows that 90% of first-time managers have struggled to navigate the boundaries between being a boss and a friend, and more than 70% have lost friendships since becoming a manager.To effectively manage the transition you should: 1) Acknowledge the power shift; 2) Accept your new role; 3) Be consistent and fair with your team members; 4) Don’t let emotions get in the way of tough decisions; 5) Manage how much you share on social media.

AB - With the amount of time we spend with our coworkers, it’s understandable that we develop strong friendships with some of them.Friendships can get tricky when the power dynamic changes and one person in the friendship becomes the boss.Research shows that 90% of first-time managers have struggled to navigate the boundaries between being a boss and a friend, and more than 70% have lost friendships since becoming a manager.To effectively manage the transition you should: 1) Acknowledge the power shift; 2) Accept your new role; 3) Be consistent and fair with your team members; 4) Don’t let emotions get in the way of tough decisions; 5) Manage how much you share on social media.

M3 - Other contribution

T3 - HBR Ascend

ER -

What to do when you become your friend’s boss

Abstract

Publication series

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Research output

What to do when you become your friend's boss - especially when you know a little too much about each other

What to do when you become your friend's boss: suddenly, you know a little too much about each other

Cite this