> I’ve worked with a lot of great engineers in their 50s who had no problems reporting to someone in their 20s, but I’ve also worked with some grumpy old guys w

> I’ve worked with a lot of great engineers in their 50s who had no problems reporting to someone in their 20s, but I’ve also worked with some grumpy old guys who wanted their 2-3 decades of work experience to be the trump card in every dispute. True, but I bet those grumpy old guys were jerks for other reasons before they had that trump card to play. In other words, some people are just like that, and will use age as an excuse. Relevant personal anecdote: In a previous phase of my career, I made it to director level along a certain track, only to discover the work (and frankly the personal investment) was dangerously unsuitable to my, err, temperament. So I switched careers at age 40, and the second manager I had was only a couple years out of college. She was an amazing, natural manager, much better than I ever was. Why would I get mad about the opportunity to have a good manager, regardless of age? Some people are good at that stuff AND it doesn't drive them insane to do it, so more power to them.