“Work vs. Friendship” was the title of this week’s business lesson from Donald Trump. In this week’s business lesson Donald says that friendship and business don’t always mix. His statement is certainly true. It is hard to be someone’s manager and their friend and still effectively manage them when they are clearly not doing their job. I had this problem in my first job.

Just out of college I took a job with a small educational software company. In 6 months time I had a team of 5 people working under me. I became good friends with my employees and at times it colored my objectivity. Four years later when the company was closing down, I had to make decisions about who to layoff first and who to keep. It was very difficult to be objective when making this decision. I was obviously closer to some employees than others, it certainly played a role in my decision. Additionally, laying off someone you consider to be a friend is not an easy job, it can ruin the friendship. Friendships and businesses don’t always mix.

On the other hand, friendships can work well when creating a business partnership. You just have to be sure to define clear roles for the partners and go in expecting to do more work than the other partner. Doing business with friends can put a strain on the relationship, but sometimes it can make you even closer.

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