I'm still in my 30s, but I've encountered a lot of the younger developers who are talented but have a very low maturity level when anything requires soft skills like managing people, hiring/firing, etc. Sometimes it feels a lot like Lord of the Flies, honestly.
The amount of resistance that I see to staffing up with dedicated project/people managers everywhere I seem to go is extremely distressing and that feeling grows each passing year. Hearing an 8-years-your-junior boss say to you "I don't want to manage anyone older than me" when evaluating another new hire is a bit of a shock.
> Hearing an 8-years-your-junior boss say to you "I don't want to manage anyone older than me"
The key is to reframe the relationship as not one of being "managed", but as a partnership where he removes the obstacles you have to getting your work done.
I don't frame it that way, either. I see it as a partnership. How you choose to view it can have a remarkable effect.
This reminds me of an old Michael Caine movie where someone asks him about his "superior" at work. He indignantly replies that's his manager, not his superior.
Henry Trewhitt: "You already are the oldest President in history, and some of your staff say you were tired after your most recent encounter with Mr. Mondale. I recall, yes, that President Kennedy, who had to go for days on end with very little sleep during the Cuba missile crisis. Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances?"
Reagan replies: "Not at all, Mr. Trewhitt and I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience."
The amount of resistance that I see to staffing up with dedicated project/people managers everywhere I seem to go is extremely distressing and that feeling grows each passing year. Hearing an 8-years-your-junior boss say to you "I don't want to manage anyone older than me" when evaluating another new hire is a bit of a shock.