Can You Be a Friend and a Leader in the Workplace?

How would you answer this question if you were advising another leader?

We often hear opposing comments in the training room. We would like to think the answer is ‘’of course, yes you can’’ - it is just knowing how.

The importance of friendship resonates with the Gallup Employee Engagement Survey (which has been around for years), and includes a question that assesses whether employees feel they have a friend at work. The specific question is: Do you have a best friend at work? (Surely, this also applies for leaders?)

According to their research, employees who have a close friend at work are significantly more likely to:

✅ be engaged

✅ be productive

✅ be satisfied in their roles

✅ experience lower stress

✅ have higher job satisfaction

✅ be more likely to stay with their organisation, fostering better teamwork and overall performance.

Knowing this, how can our leaders create workplace cultures that encourage and strengthen friendships, so we can all reap the benefits they offer?

As importantly - how do new leaders navigate the role of leader, when they have been part of the team and friends with the people they lead?

🌟Watch out for Icing Training’s leadership development programmes in 2025 to help you make sense of the important role a leader plays in creating culture and understanding how to balance the role of leader and the role of friend at work.🌟