How to Lead People Older and More Experienced Than You
And earn the respect you need to be effective
“Who does this kid think he is?” His voice boomed through the closed office door with no effort made to hide his indignance — from anyone within a square mile. The frustrated 40-something employee was complaining about me, the new and bewildered 20-something “boss.”
I’d made the mistake of over-compensating for my lack of experience by becoming a bull-in-a-china-shop on the same day I was given a leadership role. I was going to lead that team my way, and now! I was making decisions left and right and implementing them without delay.
Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad approach. Decisiveness in a leader is a good thing, but only if there’s some wisdom behind it. And in my case, there wasn’t.
But that was 20 years ago. I’m the 40-something now who’s learned how to lead since then in various military, corporate, volunteer, and government settings.
Today, 4 in 10 U.S. employees work for a younger boss according to a Harris Interactive survey, so 40% of the entire workforce has the potential to work for a less experienced (in everything) 20-something like I once was.
Here are a few things you can keep in mind when leading older and more experienced…
