It’s just a fact of life that a thirty-something is going to feel very intimidated by someone with decades more experience. Most people aren’t smart enough, nor self-confident enough, to hire great people for the roles they need to fill. Instead, most managers hire folk whom they like, or who remind them of themselves, and who don’t know more than they do or are more competent than they are. This is why nearly every large organization becomes bureaucratic, sluggish, slow to change, and stifling of innovation. I wish there was an answer to this fundamentally human problem, but in my 30+ years of professional experience I’ve concluded that 90% of business is little more than adult day care — in a kindergarten where the kids are in charge.