The first 90 days of leading former peers
Nothing in a new manager's job description says "have an awkward conversation with the person you used to complain about your old manager with." But that conversation, or the avoidance of it, sets the tone for the next year.
The mistake most new managers make is trying to manage the shift without naming it. They keep the same joking tone in one-on-ones, avoid giving direct feedback because it feels like betraying a friendship, and hope the team adjusts on its own. It doesn't. Ambiguity about the relationship reads as inconsistency, and inconsistency is what erodes trust fastest.
The fix isn't a speech. It's a short, direct acknowledgment, early: things are different now, here's what stays the same, here's what doesn't. Then follow through on it in the first real decision that matters — the first project assignment, the first piece of hard feedback. People watch what you do in week three, not what you said in week one.