The Hazards of Being the Boss’s Favorite

The Hazards of Being the Boss’s Favorite

There are clear advantages to being your boss’s favorite. But there are downsides, too: Your peers may resent you, and it’s not good for team morale. If you’re your manager’s pet, how can you encourage them to treat everyone more equally? How can you push back on the favoritism without seeming ungrateful or damaging your relationship?

Being the boss’s chosen one “is both fabulous and terrible” at the same time, according to Karen Dillon, author of the HBR Guide to Office Politics, among other books. The benefits are obvious: You get choice assignments, extra attention, and inside information on what’s happening with the organization. But that special treatment comes at a cost. “It can breed animosity and resentment among your peers,” which can make things very uncomfortable for you, she says.