Who's the boss?

[Sandy H.]

This is a poll to see if your experience is similar to my own, but also intended as a general query.

How old is your boss compared to you (the employee). Boss means manager, so if you report to the president of the company or if you report to the person who got there at 7:30 vs 8:00 it is the same answer. Who is the main person that dictates your daily/weekly/monthly work.

In all fairness, nobody likely knows the age of their boss, but given +/- a few years and the general impression about your situation, you probably can give a close number.

Sandy.

 

[fyrwrxz]

I suspect just a couple of years younger at most, judging by cultural references we share. It kinda sux for me as my Director retired a few years ago and I now report directly to the CFO/Vice President. He checks in every once in a while to make sure I still know my name and can do simple math problems.

 

[Rocketjunkie]

I thought you meant at home. (Where is that duck smiley? Can't find it with Google. All I get is the bird)

 

[OverTheTop]

My manager is about ten years younger. I have been with the company longer and he has worked under me. He moved into a management roll and really enjoys it as well as doing a good job. My interest is in the technical side, with the main drive in module and system design. I also very much enjoy engineering at the strategic level, working towards improving the outcome for our company and the around 140 electronic engineers throughout the world. I am head of the electronic engineering council for the company worldwide.

I very much like where I work and the work I do.

 

[dhbarr]

My boss is about my age. He occasionally gives me something he needs done, otherwise he just lets me go build and fix things.

As long as the bonuses keep rolling, I'll have to conclude I'm not wearing his patience -too- thin.

 

[Funkworks]

If issues arise, think of the boss as a client.

 

[dr wogz]

My immediate boss & I are about the same age. His boss and I are about the same age. His boss (company pres) is also about the same age as us.. (We can all likely sing from memory a Smiths song, or Depech Mode or Ramones song, or some other New Wave / Alternative hit..)

In my immediate department (6 CAD engs) we are all about the same age, except one young-un (1/2 - 2/3 my / our age)

Extended group (Tech writers) also about the same age, except the newest one who is also about 1/2 - 2/3 my age


Yeah, we are all about the same age, with a few younger ones thrown in..

 

[DigBaddy]

My current manager is about 10 years younger than me; FWIW, I'm 42. I've been, uh, fortunate, to have many managers/bosses as our team has had trouble finding the "correct" location in the organization but we seem well set now. (In IT, a mix of engineering, architecture and data science work - capacity/performance). Where I am now and with a manager much younger than I've ever worked with before, is probably the best situation so far. Fantastic to work with. No BS, GSD attitude, an actual advocate for what we do every day and not afraid to push the old crap/methods/etc out of the way. The rest of the organization I'm in is quite new and a whole lot of younger folks and they're awesome to work with. Really know their stuff. Makes for a great work environment.

 

[Hobie1dog]

I am head of the electronic engineering council for the company worldwide.

So that's how you afford all those rockets.

The last 2 guys I worked for were my son's age.

 

[Zeus-cat]

I have been retired for 7 years (wow, that went fast), but I would guess my last few bosses were 5 to 10 years older than me or about my age.

My best boss was probably a few years younger than me with no college degree (I have three, two BS and a Masters). He was a VP at our company and a former US Marine (he had been an LRRP team leader). He was wickedly smart and a great leader. He was a firm believer in hiring people with talents he didn't have and turning them loose and letting them get stuff done. He didn't have your back when projects went bad, because he was in front of you taking the heat. He pushed you out in front when credit was being passed around. So of course, they eventually fired him.

I was a supervisor at that company for about 18 months out of my 20 years. I hated it. Some people I supervised had chips on their shoulders and others had boulders. The two guys older than me were the worst. The company was making big changes and they wanted none of it. I don't think either of them had a college degree, but they had been with the company for decades and were getting paid a lot more than me. They didn't want to do anything differently than they had been doing for the last decade. I eventually got demoted for something not related to being a supervisor and it was literally the best thing that happened to me at that job. The pressure evaporated almost instantly. A guy I had supervised became my boss and he hated the job twice as much as I did. I knew what he was dealing with, and I became his best employee.

 

[mo2872]

My boss is my older brother by 3 years and some change. We've worked together for 25 years now.

 

[Peartree]

Basically, in the terms you laid out, it's me. No one really directs my day/week/month other than me. I do report to a committee for an annual review and any work issues within the church, and I also have a district superintendent that checks in with me once a year, but they can occasionally put things on my calendar, they do not direct my day.

 

[KennB]

I was able to find a job in my early sixties working under the VP of Engineering who is seven or eight years older than I am. He got promoted to CTO and I got a new manager who is about 25 years younger than I am. She has good managerial skills but isn't fully up on all our product lines (me either, but we've both been here in the 5-6 year range and there's lots of lines with focus on specific products by groups).

 

[OverTheTop]

So that's how you afford all those rockets.

I am a senior engineer but I don't get paid extra for doing the Electronic Engineer Council work for the company.

 

[Wayco]

My boss is eleven years younger than me. I married her in 1990 and have worked for her since she started her own business in 1993. Her successful business finances our passion for this hobby.

 

[boatgeek]

Basically, in the terms you laid out, it's me. No one really directs my day/week/month other than me. I do report to a committee for an annual review and any work issues within the church, and I also have a district superintendent that checks in with me once a year, but they can occasionally put things on my calendar, they do not direct my day.

I think you mean that your boss is infinitely older than you.

I've mainly had bosses a little older than me to 10-15 years older than me. At the last company, they were kind of a mixed bag. At my current company, they're far better.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Must have been just me ,but all of the bosses that I had were usually extremely incompetent. All through the years I would come home from work and tell my wife "these people have no business being in business" , especially company owners. They just happened to be at the right place at the right time and found a business opportunity but as far as actually caring about making the max amount of profit, and treating the employees really well.... Not in the companies I worked for.
The big corporations were no better than the small companies. They always used the Peter Principle which was the concept of promoting a person to their highest level of incompetency, and that's what they did especially at Owens Corning Fiberglass. They did everything by how much College that you had, so the PhDs would always keep getting promoted because their co-workers complained so much to the managers that the guy was a complete Goober.... so what did the company do ? they would transfer him over to another group with a higher title, more money. We called them, "Corporate Stooges"
I would always tell people that the only difference between this company and another company was the name on the front of the building.

 

[Grog6]

Siemens calls those idiots Key Experts, who could do no wrong.
This one Idiot killed two projects in a row, by blowing calculations, cost the co millions, and got promoted. We worked for a racist white supremacist, you never knew wtf was going to happen day to day.

 

[prfesser]

Retired, I have no boss at "work".

At home, *I* wear the pants and *I* am the boss. Wife said I could be. So there.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Retired, I have no boss at "work".

At home, *I* wear the pants and *I* am the boss. Wife said I could be. So there.

Sorry Sandy to hijack your thread, But this always strikes a nerve: guys who make the comment "My wife won't let me" WTF

 

[Grog6]

You've never met Southern Women, apparently.

 

[tsmmiller]

I was my bosses lead when he started and trained him in our job. He moved into management. Why anyone would want management in our company is beyond me. After I was asked, and declined and after the fourth time, I’ve not been asked since. Fine with me. Most times I like where I am at just fine, but after 35 years there I am getting ready to call it quits.

 

[teepot]

What the age difference was depended on my age. 20 to 40 they were older than I was. It wasn't until it was 2004 and I was 48 that my boss was younger than I was. That was at the Mirage. I worked for Steve Wynn's golf course called Shadow Creek. In 2008 that changed. The next boss I had was about 15 years younger than me and owned the store. I retired in 2018. Best boss I had ever had. The place was more like a family than boss and employee. We are still friends. He's been out to a couple of launches. Now, about your wife not letting you do something. I respect my wife enough to talk to her when I am going to spend enough that she will raise an eyebrow when she pays the bills. If she doesn't think it's a good time then I'll wait. She handles our household finances so she knows how the money comes and goes. She's not my boss. She's my partner. This August the 14th will be our 40th wedding anniversary.

 

[JackC]

The acronym for my boss is SWMBO - She Who Must Be Obeyed.

 

[OverTheTop]

I remember back in 1986 I became a very young Senior Technical Officer (before I became an engineer), after I completed two diplomas. I was actually the youngest STO in the Public Transport Corporation. My team were older than me but we always worked well together, maintaining what was at the time the world's most advanced passenger vehicle tracking system (pre GPS) on Melbourne's trams and buses. Our ages were never a problem but the question was always asked during job interviews about having a boss younger than the applicant.

 

[dhbarr]

I remember back in 1986 I became a very young Senior Technical Officer (before I became an engineer), after I completed two diplomas. I was actually the youngest STO in the Public Transport Corporation. My team were older than me but we always worked well together, maintaining what was at the time the world's most advanced passenger vehicle tracking system (pre GPS) on Melbourne's trams and buses. Our ages were never a problem but the question was always asked during job interviews about having a boss younger than the applicant.

Pretty sure in the US at least that would be a question that's no longer askable, or if asked there would be specific approved language.

 

[MClark]

My boss is 22 years older, he is 85.

 

[STXFlyer]

I Am The Boss.

 

[BEC]

My last manager before I retired (almost 5 1/2 years ago now) was considerably younger than I was at the time. She was, however, one of the best managers I'd had throughout a nearly 38 year career.

 

[Steven]

My boss was older by roughly ten years. Though I didn't have the authority to fire the worthless, I'd just run them into the ground and they'd walk off. At home, I am also the boss. Take care of the finances, giving all of us daily chores when the kids were at home. If I did the dishes, they did them, if I cleaned the bathroom, they did, if I did laundry they did and so on. Now we have a house cleaning and yard maintenance services (my idea as well).