In our case it was definitely age - the number of times I’d take an older employee along to a meeting and wryly smile as they’d assume he was me was substantial

In our case it was definitely age - the number of times I’d take an older employee along to a meeting and wryly smile as they’d assume he was me was substantial. Then I grew a beard and lost a load of weight, and things changed. I hate to say it, but it’s rarely what you do or what you say - it’s how you do it and how you look when you say it. These days I look like a mature, sensible businessperson, but I’m still the same twelve year old jackass I always was.