Leadership Minute: Don't Call Your Company A Family

Treating your team like a family is the worst thing you can do for your company--and your people

“We’re a family here.”

Even if you haven’t worked for a company that makes this claim, you’ve at least heard of companies or teams that do. However, I would advise leaders against using this terminology. 

Before I explain why, know that I understand the sentiment behind a familial culture. The previously dominant style of impersonal, command-and-control leadership is no longer effective and has been replaced by a more personal approach that encourages people to bring their whole selves to work.

While this is a positive trend, I would caution that claiming to treat your team like family takes things too far and becomes counterproductive. Here’s why.

Why calling a company a family is problematic

Simply put, there are a lot of things that leaders must do at their company that would rarely be considered a family matter.

For example, leaders at all companies must make tough choices about people from time to time. They’ll need to decline requests for promotions and pay raises. In many cases, they’ll have to let employees go when they just aren’t getting the job done or are violating company polices or rules.

We all know families who will excuse the drunk uncle making inappropriate comments at Thanksgiving, or the cousin no one can stand to be around. In many cases, family is family no matter what someone does—and that bond can withstand lying, cheating or even illegal behavior. Frankly, it’s not healthy.

To build a successful business with a high-performing team, leaders simply cannot be that permissive with employees. Instead, they need to uphold their values and hold people accountable to their standards. 

In response to these tough decisions, leaders at a “we are family” company often face blowback. Employees may remark “you don’t do these types of things to family,” which is a hard critique to counter and can erode trust across the team. 

Your employees should know that underperformance and misbehavior will affect their standing at the organization. Treating people like family, however well-intentioned, lowers the standards for your team, and falling standards kill companies in the long run.

Instead of treating your company like a family, here’s a better model to follow.