I once had a boss who did not know how to keep things fair. It was a family owned business, which I had no problem with, but it began to cause problems when the boss would treat family members differently. For example, the boss would show free screenings of movies to the family employees, and not invite non-family members.
This and other similar events not only made me angry, but hurt as well. It showed the boss did not respect nor care my feelings, and in my opinion it was bad leadership skills. I constantly felt like an outsider to the group of workers, and eventually people who felt the same started to quit.
Playing favorites can make group members feel betrayed, making them come to resent both you and the person you are playing favorites with.
It does not matter who your employees/group members are, you must treat everyone of the same position equally to be a great leader and keep peace among the group.
