So I’m getting a promotion soon (yay!), moving up from just a line cook to sous-chef and I’ve only been with this company for a few months. Thing is that I’m still quite young (mid twenties) and will be the direct supervisor of some people a fair bit older than I am. Think 10-20 years older. It might just still be a bit of imposter syndrome, but the idea of having to tell people who have been in the business for far longer than I what to do and such really weirds me out.
I feel I wouldn’t like it if “some young brat” that just got hired almost immediately gets a promotion and becomes my supervisor eventhough I worked at the company for far longer. Though maybe not everyone feels like this.
Do other people who have experience with a situation like this have any advice on how to deal with this? It’s kinda been keeping me up at night…
I used to work above a guy who had a reputation in the company for not really taking direction well from anyone (hence why he ended up in our section) and he was about double my age.
What I used to do was mention two things that needed doing and ask him which one he wanted to do. Most of what we did could’ve been done by either of us but in letting him pick what he wanted he had more inclination to actually do it. The rapport that came from this did allow me to jump on the few things that I wanted and get minimal backlash because I was fair most of the time.
Treat people with respect and make them feel like their opinions are valued.
If it comes to personal stories and life experience in conversation - try and take a lot more of a listening role and acknowledge their experience. They’ll feel valued in that space which will translate over to respect in the working space.
Did the people on the line go out for to Sous slot?
If you beat them out for the role there’ll likely be animosity.
If they didn’t even try, a 30-40 yo line cook may be happy prepping mise and schlepping peas, and doesn’t want any part of the unpaid overtime you just signed up for.
I’ve never worked in a kitchen, and I’m sure it’s different than the office jobs I’ve done. But still, it’s important to remember that leadership is not about “telling people what to do” as you described it.
One of the easiest mistakes to make as a leader is assuming that your job is to always be in charge, to order people round, to maintain an air of authority. Sometimes yes, that’s needed, but in my experience it’s pretty rare.
Your job as a leader is to set direction, make sure people know what’s expected of them, make sure they have everything they need to do their job, and then stay out of their way. Especially if you’re leading people who are already experienced and know what they’re doing.
This is 100% correct. I’ll add that the best thing you can do is to watch and listen to your crew. Everyone has a job, yes, but they also play a role on your team. Understand what those roles are, how work actually flows around, and what motivates people. Be a servant that helps facilitate that structure.
Seriously, those people should already know how to do their jobs. They don’t need someone to tell them what to do. Though in a kitchen, there’s definitely a pecking order that needs to be respected, and when you do ask them to do something, they need to get on it ASAP, otherwise shit can go bad pretty quickly.
So the balance you have to get right is between respecting their experience and defending your right to make the final decision.
Asking them, “what are your thoughts on how to handle this situation”, and if the idea sounds good implementing it immediately, will go a long way to showing them you’re not going to insist on your way in every situation, which is the main cause of animosity, especially when the other person is more experienced.
But just by showing you’ll consider their ideas, you should expect some people to push to have you accept every idea they have, which can occur more often when they think they should be in your place anyway.
When that happens, it’s important to clarify that while you want to get everyone’s input, the final decision rests with you, and once you make it, you expect everyone to carry it out. And though constructive feedback on how to improve the process is always welcome, critiquing it simply because it is not their idea is not.
If you say that to them, looking them in the eyes with a calm but determined voice and expression, they’ll understand you’re a boss that wants input but will remain independent, which is the type of boss people respect.
In this sense it’s not much different from managing any team, except you should be more willing to seek out their input because they truly do have more experience.
One more thing that’s extremely important. When you make a decision, especially when it’s one where you chose between competing ideas or you went with your own, always explain the rationale for your decision. If your explanation makes sense and is honest, they’ll understand you were truly choosing what you thought was the best decision, and not just picking the one from your favorite person (including yourself).
Nothing diminishes respect more than showing favoritism, especially if they think you benefited from it to get your position.
As an older guy with a 35+ year career I’ve had a number of bosses younger than me. If you don’t make it weird, I won’t make it weird. It’s no big deal. A lot of workplace authority is arbitrary / accidental anyway. Or just favoritism. Best to keep your head down and not let it bother you.
