Young Leaders, Senior Staff: Rethinking Age in the Workplace

Younger people in Leadership position who faces disrespect from colleagues can experience significant psychological issues. According to, Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for youth (aged 15-29), rising from 31.4% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24. So, comparing here percentage of younger people slightly increasing each year,  that shows each year the maximum younger people occupying the industries. By the last survey 2023-2024, 41.7% younger people were occupied and here the maximum younger people with high positions, leading teams & with team members who were older. Here are some issues that may arise due to the age difference. 

Age Bias & Stereotypes

• Colleagues may hold biases against younger leaders, assuming they lack  experience or authority due to their age 
• And the younger age staff made a decision, they won’t accept it because they are mentally not ready to accept it due to the age gap. 
• The negative stereotype and discrimination are particularly prevalent for older individuals, who often seem as declining. 
• Sometimes, older employees may feel they won’t receive any promotions or fair performance evaluations, especially when they see younger people being promoted to take a leadership role. 

Due to all these, the younger one with higher people in leadership positions faces so many struggles to equalise both the colleagues’ zone and the Management Zone. 

What are the Psychological Issues Younger Employees Will Face? 

1. Anxiety and Stress

• Younger people with leadership positions will always be in an anxious state.
• Because in every work they want to prove that their work was capable of a leadership position, this leads to work pressure for them.
• Due to groupism here, younger people will face social dysfunction (Impaired social Interactions), disruption in social exchange, making it difficult to form and maintain a comfort colleague group. 
• These all lead to difficulty in concentrating, Irritability and a constant state of being on guard. 

2. Burnout

• When the younger feel they need to work harder to prove their worth for that age, they feel physical exhaustion, emotional and mainly cynicism (It is a Distrustful and negative look on one’s life). 
• This burnout will reflect their personal life too, unable to spend time with families and friends. 

3. Imposter Syndrome 

• It is referred to as fraud syndrome. 
• It involves persistent self-doubt. 
• Inability to accept the credit for one’s achievement. 

Here, it feels like the younger employee doubts their ability and feels like they are a fraud in every situation. 

• Self-Doubt: They question their own skills and knowledge, even after if they received any positive feedback. 
• Sensitivity: If the boss or anybody mistakes them, they feel more sensitive to small things. 

Five types of Imposter Syndrome 

• The perfectionist: Has anxiety over “How” things were done.
• The expert: Fears having a lack of Knowledge, this extreme expectation of oneself can bring feelings of failure and shame. 
• The natural genius: Feels pressure to handle things alone.
• The soloist: Feel pressure to handle things. 
• The Superhuman: Feel guilty if they don’t please everyone.

4. Isolation and Loneliness

• Due to this age factor and leadership quality, they often feel lonely in working environments  
• They are unable to form a meaningful connection and often feel excluded from the colleague zone. 
• This loneliness may lead individuals to withdraw from their higher positions.

5. Professional Sabotage

• In some cases, jealous colleagues may actively try to sabotage their work or projects by spreading rumours to the management side, which can be in the form of emotional and professional attacks. 
• These are all planned to be done for the imaging negative frame of the younger leadership employee. 

These Issues may be faced by younger employees in an organisation, which affects them both psychologically and physically. 

How to overcome this with the Conclusion

1. Be confident in one’s own skill to handle a team

Get ready with your strategy to handle a Team with multiple challenges. Here, individuals should be aware of problem-solving, Emotional intelligence and active listening. 

2. Stop Comparing

Younger employee should not compare their Leadership quality with others, and also one should not feel that he/she won’t receive any colleague as others.  It may affect their work once they start comparing. 

3. Try to be Concentrated and Bold

One should concentrate more from the management side, because he or she is leading the team with the guidance of management. And Approach with employee zone with boldness, because if a younger employee acts as a bold character, they may give respect, but should not be a spy.

4. Keep Documenting

Maintain detailed records, private records, whatever one does. Because these maintenance data will help you by preventing Sabotage. So, this documentation will speak.  Many people think that younger people with higher posts are like spies, because their colleagues may think they transfer all the discussed data to the Management side. 

We are not here as spies; we are here to support you all. Respect us too.