[oddlyaromatic]

On the management side (non-tech) I initially felt awkward managing people older than me too. After some time I figured out that it is not that hard to have a relationship where their experience and knowledge is a good part of it. Their expertise is valued and I often ask for input when making decisions. I learn a lot. But also, they don't mind getting instructions, feedback, and training from somebody 20 years younger. We all get how the roles fit together, and my job is both to make the final call on stuff, and serve the people I manage so they have what they need and know they are doing a good job. I used to feel bad saying "good job" to somebody 20 years older than me (like who am I to say it?). Again, though, I figured out how to give more specific feedback and thank people for how hard they work and the impact it makes.

This all took a while to get right because of my own hangups. I could see some people preferring to manage younger employees because the authority relationship is more "natural" but that's surface level bs at the end of the day I think.