by Sarah Bammel

Created on: January 16, 2009   Last Updated: January 24, 2012

You just got the promotion to management. Congratulations are in order. But how will you survive after beating to death all the other applicants, the other qualified employees within the company that you are now in charge of. How do you show everyone that you getting the promotion wasn't just some fluke?

First, don't be afraid to show your authority over others. Show them you mean business, but do it without being too mean. There is no need to scream and yell, unless the person whose attention you are trying to get is about to do something like put their hand in a cup of hot coffee and cause them great and severe pain.

Never call others' names or say they are stupid. This just makes them hate you and think that you're 5 years old again on the elementary school playground trying to start a fight. You're an adult - use adult words to explain why something needs to be done a certain way, or why one task is more of a priority than another. Explain things so the employee can duplicate the process or the reasoning later. Simply saying just because is a phrase our parents would use when they either didn't know how to explain things or they didn't think we were old enough to understand.

Age means nothing. As an example, just because someone is 20 years old, coming from the computer generation does not mean they know everything there is to know about a computer; and just because someone is 50 years old doesn't mean they know nothing of computers. Our backgrounds and interests also have an impact on what we know. I know someone who is 50-something and they grew up playing with circuit boards and building robots. They are the person I go to when my computer crashes or am looking to load a new program. Myself, I'm-20 something, and while coming from a home that has always had a computer in it and having computer courses all throughout school, aside from the basics of Microsoft Office and turning the computer on and off, don't ask me to help with your computer problems or how to do something.

So just because you now manage some 40-year-old and you're half their age, that does not mean you necessarily know more than them in all areas. Age has nothing to do with where you are. You got the promotion because of your abilities. You are a fast learner, so it doesn't matter that you may not know what the others know. You are good at time management and can deal with the things that come up on a daily basis and have something to offer to the company. All these things are being

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>