Career Savvy at Age 40+!
Mar 11th, 2005 | By Bill | Category: Employment NewsQUESTION: I’m considerably older than my employer, and although there’s been no open acknowledgment, I feel that my age sometimes intimidates him. What can I do to make things more comfortable for us both?
ANSWER: Age differences are going to be more and more of an issue for baby boomers, and understanding successful strategies will go a long way. The demographic reality is that, at some point, we’re all going to be managed by younger people.
The most difficult issue of dealing with an age difference is that you’re older, you’re wiser and you may fall into the “mother” role (or that of an older-and-wiser sibling) without being aware of it. That can be diminishing and annoying to your employer.
You need to be really conscious of how you’re communicating, which in this case is as important as what you’re communicating. When your mother says something to you, it’s all in how she says it, right? You have to be very careful not to be pejorative to someone that is your senior in the workplace, yet your junior chronologically.
It’s also important to be conscious of how you are perceived at work. If you appear to be vibrant, active and engaged, people aren’t thinking about your age; rather, they are thinking that they want to work with you!
Finally, we always think of a mentor as being someone that’s older, but it’s time to change that. Build a network of mentors that are younger — a cabal of people that can correct us and guide us so that we don’t sound diminishing or like know-it-alls.