Sleeping With The Boss
What would you do to get ahead in your career?
Would you sleep with the boss?
I know some people would but even if you get over the problem of fucking someone you don’t have any feelings for and paying your way to a promotion with sexual favours there has to be a sneaking suspicion that it will all go sour at some point in the future. Or maybe worse they’ll keep demanding favours …
I suppose the flip side of that is if you actually fancied the boss and when they suggested a liaison in exchange for the bigger office you actually enjoyed it. That really would be a mind fuck.
Personally I can’t see it working either way because all that comes out of it is complications. Relationships are complex enough, be that in your private life or at work. Put them together and surely it can only end badly if your only motivation is career progression.
Relationships between people at work can and do work but it changes the dynamic of your working life irrevocably. It’s only those couples with a strong relationship and the ability to separate work and personal lives that can make it work well.
I slept with a supervisor of mine when I was 18. It wasn’t for career advancement, just for fun. It made things so awkward–he wanted a relationship, I didn’t–that I ended up leaving for another job. I loved that job, but it was my own fault. Work and sex really don’t mix, at least it didn’t for me. I love your blog, Alex & Suze!