Uneasy about your younger boss?
How would you feel if at your workplace you would have to report to someone younger than you? Some would be okay with that, while others may feel that it violates the natural order of things.
For those of us who were brought up with the idea of respecting their elders, the modern life (especially the corporate lifestyle) is a bit complicated. If you’re 55 and you have to report to a 25 years old …things can be a bit “unnatural” for you.
If you’re in such a position (reporting to a younger person) and you’re not comfortable with it, there are a few things that you should keep in mind in order to make things feel natural.
First of all, banish all the soul searching about what it means professionally. Reporting to a younger boss isn’t a comment on your skills, it doesn’t mean that you’re not doing your job right. Reporting to a younger boss simply means that young bosses abound these days. A Capital IQ study found that nearly 140 publicly held companies worldwide are led by CEOs 40 or under and about 100 of them are in the U.S.
Young bosses are those people who skipped the corporate ladder and took the express elevator instead.
Another thing to do is to avoid showing off your years of acquired experience and knowledge at every opportunity or delivering condescension along with your advice. Instead, share your experience in a collegial manner: you’ll become a major resource and a friend for your younger boss rather than a threat.
The third thing to keep in mind is to be careful not to interpret a younger boss’s working methods as a sign of disrespect. For example: younger bosses, being more connected to technology, can sometimes prefer to write you an e-mail instead of talking directly to you. It is important to accept and adapt to the new communication methods and to figure out the best way to work together in the current corporate environment.
Learn how each generation works, understand what their motivations are and what shaped them. This can be applied to both young bosses and older employees. It will open peoples eyes and new ways of how can the two generations work together will arise.
Also, if you have a boss that is younger than you and you’re not totally comfortable with it, be aware that he may feel a little unease too. Younger bosses can sometimes feel inadequate or even guilty when they have power over someone of their parents generation.
This “younger boss-older employee” dynamic is becoming more common as the number of over-55 workers grows. Numbers aren’t available on how prevalent this scenario is, but, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2000 to 2005 the number of employees in the workforce ages 55 and older increased nearly 30% while the number of 25- to 54-year-olds in the workforce increased just 1% between 2000 and 2005.
Learning to wok together is crucial.
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On the flip side, how does one handle it if they are the younger boss? This can be a very hard adjustment as well; telling ones elders what to do, knowing you make more money than someone who has been in the field twice as long, etc. It seems one may have to work twice as hard to gain the respect of their subordinates.
A very interesting perspective. The solution is essentially the same as in the case of older people trying to adjust to younger bosses: learning the differences and avoiding the soul search for a professional meaning of the situation.
Basically, becoming aware of the fact that the older people didn’t necessarily choose to have younger leaders (and vice-versa) should be the first step to a correct understanding of the situation. A common mafia phrase best illustrates my point: “This isn’t personal, it’s just business.”