Moving up the ladder of an organization can sometimes feel like you’re leaving others behind, especially if you’ve grown to become friends with your team members. If you are now in a leadership position over former equals, how do you remain objective? How do you avoid moving too far out on the “thin ice of friendship”?

In my experience in the military, those who were promoted were often moved into a new squad with new team members, so the leader would not feel personal obligations.

Another method is to develop a personal leadership philosophy: a written document that will declare who you are, your values, what you expect from your team, and a commitment to hold them to those expectations. It provides an objective “baseline” to measure performance that avoids personal judgement that could be altered by your friendships. It will help keep you on the safe side of that “thin ice of friendship.”

Enjoy the journey!

(This video blog is part of my “Leadership Journey of Discovery” series. Click here to see others in the series.)