Ask Alanis Morissette: my friend has become my boss. Will it work?

You need to decide which is more important – your friendship or your job

One of my dearest friends is now my boss, and it’s really hard. I feel I have to keep to myself things I used to tell him because I don’t want to look vulnerable in front of him any more. And jealousy comes in, too. Why him and not me? I love my job, but I don’t see how I can be a friend and an employee.

I truly believe that friendship and professional relationships simply don’t mix. While certainly there are examples where the double-dynamic is harmonious, more often than not it is set up to be the opposite. And here’s why: the boundaries we have in personal relationships are softer, more diffuse – there is usually a mutual vulnerability. With professional dynamics, the boundaries are more pronounced, and rightly so. Intimacy is often simply not appropriate, and could actually compromise the task at hand. There is the potential for hiring or firing, promoting or not promoting, holiday approvals, delegations, accountability, supervisions… And that’s before money comes in to play.

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from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1TbQTdh
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