The appointment of Zeeshan Siddiqui as the Mumbai Youth Congress president recently caused quite a flutter — among the most vocal opponents was Suraj Singh Thakur, who was named the working president. Resigning from his post, Thakur claimed that Siddiqui’s non-political background and lack of experience made him feel disappointed with the party’s decision and undermined. Such a scenario is not uncommon in modern workplaces, where employees are often tasked with managing much older or much younger colleagues. In either case, the role is fraught with challenges. “When managing employees who have been in the same role or the same organisation much longer than you have, you will face resistance as they may wonder why they should accept you as their boss. Conversely, the most common complaint raised by millennial and Gen Z employees is that their boss doesn’t understand them,” explains Brajesh Bajpai, a leadership coach, who has found himself in both scenarios. It’s important to not let these challenges escalate as both tenured and young employees bring their own strengths. He adds: “I realised early in my career that the role of a leader is not to control the team as much as it is to add value. There are two ways a leader can do so — you can either add value to the content or to the process.”

(From left) ) Zeeshan Siddiqui, Suraj Thakur. Mitesh Gada, Ankita Dutta