There's a common theme among workplace romances: Don't eat where you work. In layman's terms, don't get involved with someone from your job. You see your colleagues 40 hours out of the week (which is more time than most spend with their families), and you're going to develop feelings? That's bonkers. Too much can go wrong getting involved with a colleague, and the relationship goes downhill. Here's an example: You and a colleague are competing for a Director position because the present Executive Director was promoted to Vice President. The position is in Miami, and you two work at the Atlanta office. Once the opening is up for grabs, you and your colleague go to war. Both employees have been on point since they were hired and continue to shine. The supervisor knows she can come to her superstars for help with her assignments because they will help her produce top notch work.
The man and woman do overtime, seek out additional projects and they go all out like never before because both of them want that Executive Director position. Here's the catch, they've been attracted to each other for quite sometime, but they didn't act on their feelings because they want to keep business and pleasure separate. Both the man and woman agree to work on a big project. As they're working on this project, they exchange ideas and their relationship grows closer. Once they put the finishing touches on this major assignment, they agree to dinner & a movie. They enjoyed a weekend together and report for work on Monday morning, keeping their relationship professional. When a man & woman have a good working relationship, it carries over into their personal life. They're a little more flirty than usual, and they have lunch together. No harm right? Right. Remember, these two are doing a good job (so far) of separating business from pleasure.
When the Executive Director announces the promotion, the man gets the promotion because he's considered an expert at his position, so that garners him the respect amongst his colleagues. His co-worker friend acts like she's not jealous, but deep down she is. He's excited, and when he goes to share the good news with her, she side eyes him. You know how some co-workers act when they don't get the promotion they want: Envy is magnified x 100. I don't see myself getting involved with a woman I work with; that would be awkward. The moral of the story is: It's not worth it to mix business with pleasure, because when a promotion is on the line, people's worst side comes out.
