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I’ve never found the idea of a business being like a family to be appealing at all. I don’t want my work to be prying into my personal life in any way. I do wa

I’ve never found the idea of a business being like a family to be appealing at all. I don’t want my work to be prying into my personal life in any way. I do want to work for a business that cares though. They can show me how much they care by paying me well, treating me with respect, not intruding into my personal life, and by giving me a reasonable level of flexibility in how I organise my working hours and time on site. The people who say their companies are like families generally fall into two camps in my experience. Those who have no idea what they’re doing and want to signal their supposed intentions (no matter how bad their execution is), and those who want to emotionally pressure their staff into doing more than they’re paid for. If I make friends with some colleagues, well that’s nice. But I don’t want my boss to think of me as family, I wouldn’t even want to be friends with my boss. People are usually aren’t good enough at compartmentalizing for that to work.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Agreed. Parsons Technology sold some software in early PC days with great success. They ran on the founder's charisma. He'd stroll through offices telling folks they were doing well and that he'd always find a place for them and do right by them. One day he got offered big money for a buyout. Took it, ran, left employees to be laid off etc. But the kicker: the ex-employees still talk of him as a great guy. They brag about how the big man told them he'd always take care of them. Even though he actually screwed them and left them to rot. So no, I'm not a 'family company' kind of guy. Because I think its emotional leverage and not professional. I understand some folks thrive on that, and not for financial reasons. They seem to need the emotional connection to be happy. Whatever works for them.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

Agreed. Parsons Technology sold some software in early PC days with great success. They ran on the founder's charisma. He'd stroll through offices telling folks they were doing well and that he'd always find a place for them and do right by them. One day he got offered big money for a buyout. Took it, ran, left employees to be laid off etc. But the kicker: the ex-employees still talk of him as a great guy. They brag about how the big man told them he'd always take care of them. Even though he actually screwed them and left them to rot. So no, I'm not a 'family company' kind of guy. Because I think its emotional leverage and not professional. I understand some folks thrive on that, and not for financial reasons. They seem to need the emotional connection to be happy. Whatever works for them.