Criticising the bosses friend/wife?
Two issues have arisen
We've recently completed a significant acquisition and everything was going smoothly. For the first time I'm no.2 on a project and so want to make an impact. However things have started to go sour. Firstly the guy running it has brought in a consultant who unfortunately isn't up to scratch and has little interest in the project. Unfortunately this guy is his lifelong friend. Secondly, on this particular project some advertising is involved. However one of our fund managers foolishly relayed this information to his wife who had recently taken a 1 month design course (this seems to be a thing now among housewives). So now she's involved and I think it's fair to say she's not the Picasso of cutting edge advertising. To make matters worse, we've already hired an experienced advertising team who are getting rather annoyed with this woman.
So my question is, if I voice my opinions will I be crossing a line?
Why would you risk it when you know someone else will?
This is great advice. Just wait out the storm. Someone is going to say something that will get the message and take the bullet for you.
Listen to these guys.
Also, have you slept with the wife yet?
You're in a tough spot but no, do not criticize the consultant friend and especially the wife. You will lose. Try to work around it as much as possible. Maybe with the consultant have meetings with the lead guy and the consultant on a regular basis to show your superior what the consultant/friend is and isn't doing. Hopefully your boss will see that the consultant isn't doing what he should be. It's typically a bad idea to mix business and friends and your #1 should know that. It's ok to hire people you know but you shouldn't hire the guy you've been best friends with since first grade unless they're rock stars at name brands (if a friend works at McKinsey it's fine because there's a good chance you would have hired them anyway but not if it's a one man shop).
Try to get the wife to work directly with the ad firm and for you to not be involved in any interactions with her, and if you're in PE you really shouldn't have them. Let the ad agency be the buffer-you have more to lose than they do. I've been involved in many companies in PE that had advertising involved and I don't think I ever once talked to a designer or art director. In most PE firms you shouldn't get that granular with your involvement in portfolio companies. That's why they have management teams.
What kind of a question is that... It is very clear that you do not call the shots here.. Do not cross the line!
Listen, here is some advice that has been the cornerstone to my success:
"Never miss an opportunity... to shut the fuck up"
This.
lol patience and let someone else fight your battle.
If you want to be more active, egg someone else on in their quest to damage their personal relationship with the boss by telling him he is wrong about something highly personal to him. Bonus points if it's your boss so you have a better chance of taking his job or, if this guy is your direct supervisor, have a coworker do it, weed out the competition.
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