I think that you would be best advised to form relationships with all involved. Your working relationship must be such that you have the courage to do what is required for all parties involved.

I don't know anything about you, your programmers, or your company. I would focus on learning about them, and serving them and your company. Not everyone will ever workout in a situation. If you know them, you'll be able to build trust and reliance. In short, a team. Overuse of authority, or authoritarian means will kill you. A bad understanding of relationships will kill you. It depends much on your company.

If you can find the courage to be a real human and engage them at a human-relational level, then you will have the ability to manage all other pieces of your job function. A weak/broken individual will mange with threats and manipulation or not manage at all. Some people believe it's either "tool" or "user".

Learn to know them all, learn to use thier strengths for the purposes of the team and company, and you'll go far with them.