Consider your leadership team.  Do you get along?  Do you enjoy each other’s company?  Do you look forward to spending time with one another?  These are all interesting questions, but the more important questions are these.  Do you get things done?  Do you meet the obligations of the company and its stakeholders?  Are you collectively moving the company forward?

Sure, it is much more pleasant to spend time with your mates, but that is not always in the best interest of your company.  Hiring friends and having very good friends on the leadership team can sometimes present a challenge.  Tara Weiss’s article in Forbes “How to Fire a Friend” is filled with stories on how friends can sometimes miss a deadline or expect a favor and not think it puts the leader in a vulnerable position.

So do you have to be friends with your leadership team?  Of course the answer is just what you would have expected.  Whether your team is comprised of friends or not, the rules should be the same.  Open, honest and transparent conversations as well as clear and concise expectations should be the rule of the day.  Leaders must have the same high expectations and hold their friends to the same standards as they do to the newcomer on the team.