When Your Friend Becomes Your Boss

At first, the idea of your friend being your boss may sound great. You love spending time with friends, and maybe you’ll even be cut a little slack from time to time, right? Not quite. If you’re thinking that way, consider your friend’s promotion from another point of view.

Acknowledge that things are different. With long hours, shared goals, competition, and a team dynamic to consider, workplace relationships within the finance world can be complicated. Bosses face a lot of pressure to carry out objectives, stay organized, and keep clients happy. They also have a new set of human resources rules to keep track of and a much higher accountability level. Casually pretending that your friend is still just a friend will make both your jobs harder.

Be mindful of what you share. It might be fine to tell a friend that someone said something inappropriate to you at a recent convention party, but telling your boss changes the context completely. Your friend might laugh with you, but your boss might view it as a complaint that needs to be addressed. This is especially important in the finance world, where conflict of interest, legal issues, and client relationships are factors that can heavily impact a firm.

Keep your friendship and your boss relationship separate. Some people find it helpful to designate “friend time” versus “work time” and never cross the line. Talking work on the weekends will taint the friendship and bring too much work into both your personal lives, and discussing weekend plans at the office might make your boss seem partial to you over your peers.

Be happy for them. It’s natural to feel a little jealous of your friend’s promotion, but if you want to maintain your relationship, you’ll process through the jealously quickly and start being happy for them. Knowing they have your support will make your friend’s job much easier and will strengthen your relationship inside and outside the office.

Most of all, don’t slack off just because you’re buddies with the boss. They deserve the same work ethic you would demonstrate for anyone else. In any relationship, whether friendship, coworker, or employee/boss, respect is always the bottom line.