How Concealed Relationships Can Impact Leadership Perception, Moral Reasoning, and Team Effectiveness
When employees are dating each other, it is essential to keep their romance hidden for various reasons. It may be necessary for professional reasons, such as avoiding gossip or potential conflicts of interest.
What happens when these relationships go undetected but still exist under the surface? In this article, I will explore how concealed relationships can impact leadership perception, moral reasoning, and team effectiveness.
Impact On Leadership Perception
Concealed relationships between coworkers can influence how supervisors view them professionally. If an employee is involved in a relationship with someone they work closely with, that person's judgment might be clouded due to feelings of personal connection. As a result, leaders may question the objectivity and impartiality of their actions and decisions. This could lead to distrust and mistrust within the team, ultimately affecting morale and productivity.
Imagine an employee who has been working hard on a project and receiving positive feedback from their manager. The leader then learns that the individual was secretly dating another member of the same department. They might wonder if favoritism played a role in their promotion or evaluation. Such doubt casts suspicion on all future interactions and reduces trust between leader and subordinate.
Moral Reasoning
In addition to affecting perception, concealed relationships can also impact moral reasoning by blurring lines between personal and professional life. When employees date each other without disclosing it, there is no accountability or transparency regarding ethical standards. This lack of clarity can create confusion about appropriate behaviors and expectations.
Suppose two workers are romantically involved but keep it hidden from others. In that case, one person might feel entitled to special treatment at work because of their personal relationship while the other does not receive equal consideration.
Team Effectiveness
Undisclosed romances can harm team effectiveness by creating tension among members who know about the relationship yet must pretend otherwise. Even if coworkers do not show open hostility towards those in a covert coupledom, they may still experience emotional discomfort resulting in reduced productivity levels.
The secrecy itself adds stress as people try to maintain composure around those involved in the relationship while feeling anxious about being discovered themselves.
Hidden romances can have far-reaching consequences for leadership, morality, and team dynamics within an organization. It's crucial that individuals consider these implications before entering into any intimate relationships with colleagues so everyone involved understands potential risks upfront. By doing this, companies can prevent negative outcomes like decreased productivity and damaged reputations due to concealed relationships gone awry.
How do concealed relationships affect leadership perception, moral reasoning, and team effectiveness?
Concealed romantic/sexual relationships have been shown to negatively impact leadership perception, moral reasoning, and team effectiveness within organizations (Fishbein et al. , 2017). Leaders who maintain such relationships may be perceived as unethical and immoral by their subordinates, which can lead to decreased trust and respect from followers (Galpin & Wageman, 2013).