Career Savvy at Age 40+

QUESTION: I'm considerably older than my employer,and although there's been no open acknowledgment, I feel that my agesometimes intimidates him. What can I do to make things more comfortable for us both?

ANSWER: Age differences are going to bemore and more of an issue for baby boomers, and understandingsuccessful strategies will go a long way. The demographic reality is that, at some point, we're all going to be managed by younger people.

The most difficult issue of dealing with an age difference isthat you're older, you're wiser and you may fall into the "mother" role (or that of an older-and-wiser sibling) without being aware of it. That can be diminishing and annoying to your employer.

You need to be really conscious of how you're communicating, which in this case is as important as what you're communicating. When your mother says something to you, it's allin how she says it, right? You have to be very careful not to bepejorative to someone that is your senior in the workplace, yet your junior chronologically.

It's also important to be conscious of how you are perceivedat work. If you appear to be vibrant, active and engaged, people aren't thinking about your age; rather, they are thinking that they want towork with you!

Finally, we always think of a mentor as being someone that'solder, but it's time to change that. Build a network of mentors that are younger -- a cabal of people that can correctus and guide us so that we don't sound diminishing or like know-it-alls.