New manager faces resistence from older subordinates who refuse to recognize their promotion: 'The employee responds to any form of feedback as a personal attack'

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Aug 8, 2024 6:00 PM EDT

There's something about the realization that your manager is younger than you that triggers complex and deeply confrontational psychological crises and self-evaluation, making you wonder how and why you never progressed to that point, or at least passed the point you're at. What happened? What went wrong? Where did things go off course? Even if you never really wanted to be promoted to a management position in the first place, having someone younger than you as a manager for the first time may suddenly have you wishing that you had made the leap to that next level sooner.

The same can be said for any situation in which you feel you might have been passed up for promotion in favor of someone with less experience. Sometimes, the reasons for it happening aren't altogether clear. Besides, it's not unusual that the reason you were passed up is because your values and the values of your organization don't align, as you have values, and they have none.

So, the person who was promoted might have been so because of their ruthless willingness to pass on ethically dubious directives without asking questions. It's frustrating, to be certain, and navigating the situation can be difficult for both parties. The newly minted manager may come out swinging, looking to assert their newfound authority, and likewise, any sign of weakness may be picked apart by the now subordinates. Where possible, some corporate entities choose not to promote within the same location for this reason.

This new manager shared their experience with this online community, wondering how they should approach dealing with their older ex-colleagues, now subordinates, who were not taking their promotion well, dropping slide remarks, and even being openly confrontational.

They first shared a post asking for advice from the community, later returning to offer an update on what had happened since. Reader's initial advice turned to advise the manager to leave, stating that they were not being offered enough support from their own superiors to handle the situation at hand.