DungeonsNDemos

Rolling 20's all day

Acclaimed Answer

Manager Younger than You

I was chatting with one of my close sales friends over the weekend and he mentioned to me that at his company, one of the AE teams is about to get a new manager. This is not his team (he is enterprise) but it's the SMB team that he has two friends on.

His two friends were complaining to him that they are worried. The reason being, is that the new manager is younger by a couple years than most of the reps they will manage. I think they are mid 20's and everyone they will manage is about the same age or closer to 30.

My first two thoughts were:

1) Wow, good for them, that is impressive to get that offer. I'm assuming they have the credentials to lead.

2) Wow, that might be intimidating to manage people older than you.

I'm curious to hear how many of us have had managers that are younger than us. If so, did it work out well for you?

Have you had a manager younger than you?

Attached poll

Yes No Age is just a number

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

🧢 Sales Management

29

38 comments

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funcoupons

WR Officer

10

👑

I haven't. I don't think that age is of utmost importance when managing a team, but maturity is. There's a big difference between someone that's spent most of their adult years in college vs someone that started working in sales when they were 18 by the time they both hit 25. To summarize, your team/prospects shouldn't be able to automatically guess that you're young by the way you speak and carry yourself. If you can pull off professional conversations and interactions with colleagues/prospects 20+ years your senior in your early/mid twenties, all power to you. I'd say it's uncommon, but I reserve judgement until I get to know someone.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

3

Rolling 20's all day

Great point! I agree overall but would be slightly worried in this case if they have not managed before or if they show immaturity.
Going back to the basics of why we choose jobs (outside of pay and benefits) is to learn from more experienced leaders/those who will help us succeed.

Lol this would only really worry me if my company were to not maintain standards and hired an SDR into leadership or something weird like that if they don't have any closing experience.

funcoupons

WR Officer

5

👑

I agree, but I've had managers who were old enough to be my parents that were completely immature and unfit for management. All I learned from them was how to sit still and not violently assault them when they continued to let me down and piss me off.

Overall I'd be more comfortable with a manager older than me because it's more likely they're going to have experience and behaviours I can learn from, but it's certainly not guaranteed.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

1

Rolling 20's all day

Lol 100%. I think it's easy to find middle managers who have checked out or are not aligned with their reports. I feel it comes down to are we both working towards the same goal(s) as professional teammates, and then personality is like the other 50% of how they are as a person.

Corpslovechild

Politicker

10

Inbound Sales Manager

Can my manager help me hit my goals....... If so, I don't care if my manager is 21 or 75.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

0

Officer of ♥️

^^^

CuriousFox

WR Officer

7

🦊

I haven't but I'd totally respect it if I did.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

0

Rolling 20's all day

Give respect, get respect

RealPatrickBateman

Politicker

6

🔪Amateur Butcher🔪

I had a manager younger than me once, he made age "a thing" in our very first meeting like some elephant in the room, I honestly had no idea until he said something. He used it as leverage everytime I didn't do something 100% to what he said. I was a problem...I left lol.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

2

Rolling 20's all day

Oof. Sorry to hear. I would be pissed if someone did that to me too. Like Coup's said, age is just a number but maturity is a huge component.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

6

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

At my last company, we basically got a new manager every year, so I'm pretty familiar with a wide range of managers.

The older I get, the more likely I am to have managers who are younger than myself. My current manager is younger than me (not sure by how much, but I am positive she is). My immediately previous manager was younger than me by a lot, but was a fantastic manager. However, you get to be a certain age and level of seniority, you will find there are a few benefits. One of the benefits is that you're trusted to know what you are doing. A good manager will recognize that and will let you do your thing and be there to help. It's just two different career paths; good ICs and good managers are necessary to keep the revenue flowing.

That said, if any of my younger managers had been immature or a micromanager, that would have been an issue. I've not yet run into that scenario.

E_Money

Big Shot

6

💰

I haven't had a manager that is younger than me and I consider myself mature enough to deal with it properly if it were to ever happen.

I'd take them out to a nice lunch, wine and dine them, talk them up, drug their drink, drive them out to a field, and leave them there for the wolves.

NO ONE CAN MANAGE ME

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

3

VP of Sales

Jesus this escalated

farmtocity

Opinionated

2

SDR Manager

lol

TennisandSales

Politicker

5

Head Of Sales

I WAS the young manager before I came into Saas.

I was like 25 managing 45 year olds......I can tell you for a FACT it was an issue.

Although I had performance that would say I knew what I was doing and can help.....i always felt like everything I said not REALLY taken seriously because i was "Just a kid"

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

4

Sales

Yeah you have to prove yourself over and over in this situation. I had it was a rep that almost 20 years older and missing quota. Finally came down to “you’ve missed quota three years in a row doing it your way. This is your first year under me, let’s break the trend.”

Filth

Politicker

3

Live Filthy or Die Clean

I have. Literally the best manager I've ever had was a year or two younger than me. The difference between the situation here is that I was new to the big boy/girl sales world (coming from b2c retail phones & games). She introduced me to the culture, the work, the highs, the lows and never lorded over me and I only truly disappointed her once by not having my research done on an intro/qbr. To this day she is still my rabbi (The Wire is the shit) and I lovingly call her my Sales Mom.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

2

Sales

I’ve managed salespeople older than me. It’s a bit annoying at first, you get the usual crap about experience from reps who are averse to change and whatnot. It can work and work well though as long as the manage delivers value.

bandabanda

Tycoon

2

Senior AE Mid Market

My current manager is and most of the sales team is younger than me - late to the game, what can I say.

He's a badass. In reading this it reminded me he's younger than me. He carries himself very professionally, knows how to manage up and he holds his own well in front of investors at a Series A. I respect the hell out of him.

ego

Politicker

2

Bartender

as long as they don't mess with my money, idgafos.

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

2

VP of Sales

Nope. I was/am the manager

Coffeesforclosers

Notable Contributor

2

Director Sales and Market Development

I have majority of my direct reports older than me, i earned my seat and they fall in line. Kidding. Its all about the job, i hired professionals and dont get in the way, im here to strategize and help them navigate internally, they are here to sell and sell they do. They come to me when needed and i interject when needed and it works. It shouldnt matter

Justatitle

Big Shot

1

Account Executive

I hit no, but then thought about it and I did have one manager that was 2 years younger than me. It never really mattered much and he 100% knew his stuff and pretty much left me alone because I was doing well. He was also mature and that was probably the biggest factor

NotCreativeEnough

Big Shot

1

Professional Day Ruiner

not yet because I've always been young as hell compared to my coworkers. Im starting to reach the point where that may no longer be the case much longer though.

Charito

Fire Starter

1

Senior Account Exec

if there's reciprocity and a desire for both to learn from each other, the age things melts away.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

0

Rolling 20's all day

Solid point!

PhlipOut

Politicker

1

Account Executive

I managed a team where half of the reps were older than me.
I think the important thing is to be a resource for them: support, deal insight, brainstorming, removing roadblocks.

Age shouldn't matter, but you can / need to be more directive with someone junior

AmbitiousTarnished

Praised Answer

1

Technical Presales Consultant

Before I became a savage I spent some time eating crayons in the Marines. I after about 3 years I ended up in charge of a team, section, and eventually a platoon of infantry. I was in my very early twenty's and some of these guys were war hardened vets that were 5 -10 years my senior. I then transitioned into a leadership role at a major retail chain and there were some notable takeaways from both.

1. You're gonna get your block knocked off if you come in demanding respect because of your title.

2. The only way to earn their respect is by leveling with them, doing the job along side them, and showing them first hand why you are where you are.

3. You don't know what you don't know. We all have had different life experience and asking questions of your team with humility can save the day.

4. Don't try to put the guy that's been blown up twice on firewatch.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

0

Officer of ♥️

I've met some old people who are complete children, some young people who are wise beyond their years. and some people who act their age. What's important is qualifications/Emotional intelligence/ ability to lead. Which is not determined by years lived but rather by the quality of those years lived and it's foucus. IE IDC if you've been a sales leader for 20 years if you've been a shitty leader with outdated methods and techniques.

Pachacuti

Politicker

0

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I have but i think its important to clarify the term "manager". I tend to manage my managers through telling them what I need to get my job done - ie internal resources, travel requirements, etc. The manager basically becomes akin to an Administrator in my world.

goldenlazard

Politicker

0

Senior SDR

Can’t think of anything worse than having a superior who is younger than me.

It’s got nothing to do with them, they might be the best boss ever….
But I’m toxically competitive and measure my self word through comparisons to my peers.

saasibee

Opinionated

0

Enterprise Rep

I have not, however I am the youngest person on my team and will shortly be promoted to a role where I am 5+ years younger than everyone else in my position (currently the other person closest in age to me in 2-3 years). I also mentor people who are several years older than me.

At first this made me very nervous since I didn't feel like I had enough experience or was good enough to be in the position that I am in. However, looking at everyone else around me I have been more successful due to the previous roles I've had at other companies. So while the experience I have is less than others in number of years - my success in them has proven to those around me that I deserve to be where I am now.

Something else to add is that not everyone goes into sales right out of school! Several of the people that I work with had different jobs for 5-10 years. I also l look relatively young and am a petite woman so I think zoom has benefited me in the past few years because we are not in person.

jefe

Arsonist

0

🍁

I've been a manager as the youngest person in sales at a company, and was an internal promotion.,

There can be challenges with some of those that are 5+ years older, especially if they've been around for awhile, but if you're good you can usually win them over by helping them succeed.

Also, fuck haters

Red5

Praised Answer

0

Head of sales

I have managed a lot of people older than me. If they’re credible, respectable and bring value it will quickly become a non-issue. People respect managers who respect them and help them get to their goals, regardless of age.

Irishman

Catalyst

0

Business Consultant

Had a manager 4 years younger than me, we are still good friends. He actually managed me 3 separate times across two companies! We had a great team dynamic and even now, we'll call each other up for advice on how to handle things 4 years after last working together. My 3 and a half-year-old regularly teaches me new things so as long as you are open to coaching, you can learn from anyone. I've managed people older than me since my early twenties - it's all about earning respect and walking the walk

Hoopnip

Politicker

0

Commercial AE

If you’re at a startup and your above 35 and your manager is 25 , there will definitely be issues from lack of experience , business maturity and deal volume that the young manager hasn’t had yet.

IanJ

Executive

0

Enterprise Business Development

The best manager I've had turned out to be more than 10 years younger than me.

I didn't know that until a couple of years in.
I knew he was younger but he came off as not much younger.

The lesson for me, it makes no difference what anyone's age is as long as their experience and personality line up with the role.

ABCvs

Valued Contributor

0

VP of Growth

I’m in my 30s and about 70% of the people I manage are older than me (by 5-30 years). Can I imagine it being difficult for some? Yes. Do I change my style with the dinos? Of course. They are savages and I have a lot to learn from them. But I know how to sell and I know how to help people reach their goals. I’m not going to give these dudes career advice like my younger team members, but I can help them manage the sales process and remove blockers.

I’m in my position for a reason and so are they. As long as we all remember that, it’s all accelerators and OTE.

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