Have you ever had a boss tell you something extremely personal about themselves? How have you handled it?

[Anonymous]

My boss is an open book and will often say extremely personal things. The most recent one was regarding an abusive relationship she was in, which involved sexual assault etc. She's also talked about mental health, and self harm. She's otherwise a good boss, but I don't know what to do about this.

Have you ever had a boss do this or what would you do if they did?

[Wonderingguyy]

I’m a boss myself and my employees know quite a fair bit about me. I didn’t tell them stuff directly though, they kind of just have picked up on things and have asked me about them (I can’t really hide my emotions or thoughts that well) we have a pretty close relationship though, and I consider them all my friends. If I didn’t know them well however, it would be quite strange for them to know very personal things about me I can imagine.
Maybe your boss doesn’t have anyone else she can really talk to. If she seems okay to cross the ‘professionalism’ line and talk about herself with her, just be there for her and listen if you’re comfortable with that. Don’t worry too much about if it’s right or wrong, just be there for her, it sounds like she’s struggling.

[Wonderingguyy]

*with you

[Jazzy54]

Honestly, I would speak with HR and/or her boss about it.

[Nikki1989]

No, that would be weird.