当首席执行官与员工约会时，事情很快就会变得一团糟

A CEO is entitled to a love life. But when it involves someone at work, things get very dicey very fast -- for the CEO, for the employee and, if handled badly, for the company.

CEO有权享受爱情生活。但如果涉及到工作中的某个人，如果处理不当，事情很快就会变得非常危险，对首席执行官、对员工，对公司也是如此。

That said, there's a reason the idea of a CEO marrying his secretary is cliché. Chief executives do find partners at the office -- and not just at the assistant level.

也就是说，CEO和他的秘书结婚是老生常谈的话题，这是有原因的。首席执行官们的确会在办公室里找到合作伙伴，而且不只是在助理级别。

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), said he once asked a roomful of CEOs how many had ever dated someone at work and about 70% raised their hands.

美国人力资源管理协会首席执行官小约翰尼•c•泰勒说，有一次他问满屋子的首席执行官，有多少人曾经与同事约会过，约70%的人都举手了。

But in today's corporate world, boards are on high alert for anything that poses a reputational or financial risk to the company.

但在当今的企业界，董事会对任何可能给公司带来声誉或财务风险的事情都高度警惕。

At the end of October, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook abruptly resigned from his post for having what was described as a consensual relationship with an employee.

10月底，麦当劳首席执行官史蒂夫•伊斯特布鲁克突然辞职，原因是他与一名员工存在所谓的“情感关系”。

The board said Easterbrook "violated company policy and demonstrated poor judgment." Easterbrook himself said in an email to employees that having the relationship was "a mistake" and that he agreed with the board's decision.

董事会表示，伊斯特布鲁克“违反了公司政策，表现出了糟糕的判断力”。伊斯特布鲁克本人在一封给员工的电子邮件中表示，开始这种关系是一个“错误”，他同意董事会的决定。

Nothing more is publicly known about his relationship other than it was described as consensual.

关于他的关系，除了被描述为两厢情愿之外，没有其他公开的信息。

But even in a best-case scenario -- where the CEO and the employee are both consenting, unmarried adults who don't have any direct dealings with each other at work -- that can still pose problems.

但即使在最好的情况下——CEO和员工都是自愿的，在工作中没有任何直接交接的未婚成年人-这仍然会带来问题。

There's no controlling others' perceptions

没有人能控制别人的看法

Being in a relationship with the boss will make others at the company suspect that favoritism is at play. And that will undercut the employee's professional accomplishments and reputation.

与老板有某种关系会让公司里的其他人怀疑有偏袒倾向。这将削弱员工的专业成就和声誉。

"It also undermines the idea of meritocracy and the idea that everyone has a fair shot," Taylor said.

“这也破坏了精英主义的理念，以及人人都有公平机会的理念，”泰勒说。

Love gone bad is a potential lawsuit gone wild

爱情变质是一场潜在的诉讼

If a romance between a CEO and an employee sours, it may come out that the relationship wasn't as consensual as the CEO thought.

如果一名CEO和一名员工之间的恋情搞砸了，结果可能是这种关系并不像这位CEO想的那样两厢情愿。

"Ultimately, many of them that begin as consensual end up as complaints of harassment," said Cari Dominguez, a former chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a board member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, in an e-mail.

平等就业机会委员会前主席、全美企业董事协会理事卡里·多明格斯在一封电子邮件中表示:“最终，许多最初是双方自愿，最后变成了性骚扰投诉。”

That, of course, creates legal problems for the CEO and the company.

这当然会给CEO和公司带来法律问题。

Some company policies won't outright prohibit relationships between executives and subordinates. But they are likely to classify them as potential conflicts of interest subject to review by the board, Taylor said.

一些公司政策不会完全禁止高管与下属之间的关系。但他们可能会将其归类为潜在的利益冲突，接受董事会的审查，泰勒说。

In that case, both the CEO and the employee would be required to disclose that they're having a consensual relationship. That puts the employee on record as saying it's consensual.

在这种情况下，CEO和员工都必须披露他们之间的关系是两厢情愿的。这让员工公开表示，这是双方自愿的。

What if the relationship is the real deal?

如果这段关系是真的呢?

If a relationship between a CEO and an employee is serious, and they're not willing to give it up, it might make sense for the employee to leave the company, Taylor said.

泰勒说，如果CEO和员工之间的关系是认真的，他们不愿意放弃，那么员工离开公司可能是有道理的。

That may not be ideal. But it's less than ideal when a CEO dates an employee in the first place.

这可能并不理想。但如果首席执行官一开始就和员工约会，那就不太理想了。

"There are tradeoffs once you assume the role of CEO. It's about choices," Taylor said.

“一旦你承担了CEO的角色，就得权衡（这种关系）。这关乎选择，”泰勒说。