Interesting post, Mary... It made me really think. The last company I worked for was a well-established on, owned by one family for multiple generations. Being privately held, when we'd hear about management decision, we'd always hear "The Family decided..." It caused a chuckle after a time because it brought to mind the Mafia.

Being a family-owned company, they emphasized work-life balance, and the intent to treat us like family. However, when they let hundreds of employees go in the past year, it had more than the usual shock attached to it. Not only did I lose my job, but I got "voted off the island" too! My "family" didn't want me anymore, and it contained more than just a professional sting. It felt personal as well, when it was purely a business decision. This created a dynamic that's hard both for those who are now jobless and those who are left behind. I was very close to the colleagues I worked with regularly, and it was hard to find new ground for us to relate with each other once I was cast out of the family.

So, while I agree that leaders need to be clear about what they are really trying to accomplish and they need to be careful about likening their team to a family, I think that in the best teams, it's almost unavoidable that team members will form close relationships that may ultimately be put in the context of "family." After all, in many work situations, we spend more hours a day with the people we work with than we actually do with members of our own family units...

Therefore, leaders need to be aware of the context being created for their teams, and take that into consideration during their own interactions within the team. This may be easier to do in larger companies than it is in smaller ones where teams are more tight-knit and work more frequently together.

Anyway, interesting article, Mary! Thanks for sharing your pet peeve, and making us all more mindful of how we communicate to those we lead.