Mary,
I love thought-provoking posts such as this one! In the past, I have worked for organizations that claimed to treat their employees 'like family' when the reality was: Mistrust, selfishness, paranoia, bullying, underhandedness and so forth.

Conversely, the organization I have worked with for the past five years *is* like a family - we respect, care for and support one another professionally and personally. We call each other 'work family' and there is nothing any of us wouldn't do - and have done - to help each other at work or at home.

I had very dysfunctional parents, so when I think of 'family' in that context, it has negative connotations. However, the family I have created as an adult along with my husband's family show me every day that care, compassion, honesty, trustworthiness and support are foundational to healthy families.

I believe it comes down to leadership. I am very interested in hearing more insights from others - great post!

<a href="http://leadchangegroup.com/members/heatherecoleman/" rel="nofollow"><a href="http://leadchangegroup.com/members/heatherecoleman/" rel="nofollow">@HeatherEColeman</a></a>