“It’s lonely at the top” is a cliche, but as with most cliches, there is some truth behind it.

As a leader you need to avoid having favorites among your employees. That is tougher than it sounds, but if you have a special connection to one or some of your employees, it is critical you avoid the appearance of favoritism.

You are going to have problems if you find you have a few people you always seem to be with out of a much bigger group of employees. These might be friends, or they might be employees you trust the most or who have a similar background to yours. If you find yourself “playing favorites” like this, you are really not helping yourself.

Why? Mostly, because it hurts your relationship with other employees. When they see you consistently talking with one person or a small group, the others may feel cut out. They are likely to interpret your actions as a sign that their opinions do not carry as much weight, that they are not valued as much. This probably is not what you mean to suggest, but your actual thoughts are not always as important as how they appear to others. You need to pay attention not only to your actual intentions but to the perceptions others have as well.

It is easy for this to happen in more collaborative settings, which in many companies is what you aim for. In the workplace, we are naturally drawn to people with similar interests, with comparable skills. If you find someone who thinks like you do, or who has a similar background or experiences, it is not uncommon to link up with that person. But in doing so you may not only be alienating others, you may also be limiting yourself to a single perspective and losing out on the diversity of ideas available from your workforce.

So, if you find yourself heading to the same person’s cubicle so often that you can see a path forming in the carpet, cut it out. You might feel comfortable with your favorites, but no one else will.