Should becoming a manager change my relations with my colleagues?

Sadly, yes. There’s no reason why you can’t still be good friends with people you’ve worked closely with. But David Brent of The Office is the clearest example of how things can go badly wrong. You now have power over your colleagues’ lives, and they’ll have that in mind whenever they’re with you.

Everything you say will be taken differently. That means no more joking about performance. No more discussing other members of the team except in the proper professional context. No more speculating about the state and future of the organisation, because anything you say could well be taken as solid truth. And, just in case it’s been staple chat in the pub after work, no discussion of sex.

In general, you need to be very careful about the kind of jokes and throwaway remarks that may in the past have seemed totally innocuous. In the worst cases, these remarks from a manager can land you in an employment tribunal, but at the very least they can easily be misconstrued. You have (some) power now, and you have to use that power responsibly.