Case Study An Office Romance Gone Wrong

A star salesperson struggles to navigate a bad breakup with a coworker.

by J. Neil Bearden

Brad: Drinks after the last session? Elizabeth: The whole gang? Brad: Just me. Others flying back. Elizabeth: OK. Hotel bar@7? Brad: See u there. Nothing happened that first night. Yes, Brad had flirted, and Elizabeth had flirted right back. They’d spent two hours at the bar. But she knew better than to take it further. He was the CFO of their company, a software start-up with about 75 employees. She was its star salesperson. They were at a conference, with industry contacts all around, using expense accounts. Maybe the flirting would lead to something; maybe not. But if it did, she wanted things to start right. Ada: Ready for your big date? Elizabeth: Nervous Ada: Because he’s your boss? ;) Elizabeth: He’s not! Just C-suite. And super smart. Ada: Not bad looking either… It was true. Brad wasn’t her boss. He…

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Harvard Business Review (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2016

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