Jayson Lowe advises that authentic friendships can exist within a management team but must have a clear separation from leadership responsibilities. He gives a practical example—leaving celebrations early via a side/back door—so the team can enjoy wins while preserving the leader’s ability to make tough decisions without jeopardizing friendships.
Is there room for friendships among your management team? Speaking for myself personally, I would say that there are certainly elements of that if the relationship is authentic and it blossoms in that way. But there has to be crystal clear separation. I'll give you an example. When we all get together as a team and we're celebrating a win, I make it a habit to not stick around for long. So I let the celebration get underway and then I find my way out the side door or the back door and let my team enjoy the win, celebrate it, and get ready to prepare for the next one. I do believe that there are elements of friendship be appropriate, but I think as a leader there has to be a clear distinction there so that you can not only rejoice in the wins with your team, but you can also make difficult, tough decisions and not have to worry that a friendship will be severed as a result.
