The New Manager's Survival Guide: Feedback, Safety, and Managing Your Friends

​Making the jump from Individual Contributor to People Manager doesn’t just change a developer's day-to-day; it changes their relationships. Just two years into her career as a developer, Sara was promoted to Team Lead. Suddenly, she was responsible for mentoring juniors, guiding developers with far more experience, and managing a close friend. In this session, Sara will share the lessons learned in the trenches of that transition. We will dive into the mechanics of giving hard feedback, establishing psychological safety, and redefining identity from "peer" to "leader" without ruining team dynamics.