Never depend on a friendship with your boss to insure career success. Think of the relationship as a business deal, a step forward on your career path. You have something to sell–your skills and knowledge. The boss is a buyer. The price paid is an investment that must earn a profit if the employer is to stay in business.

Bound by his own ambitions and the rules of the workplace, he can’t carry out his assignment of supervising you on the basis of friendship. There comes a time when your boss has to say “no” when a friend would say “yes.” If you think otherwise you are on the road to frustration and pain.

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