I want this promotion but it might cost my friend a job

Q A month ago, one of our bosses at work casually mentioned that if I was interested, he could recommend me for a certain position since he believed that I would do a good job. The position is higher than mine, so I know that it pays better. The problem is that this job already belongs to a colleague, who I also consider a friend. It means that if I accept the role, my friend will be out of a job. What do I do?

Casual as it may have appeared to you, your boss must have had reason for stoking the conversation concerning your possible promotion. Few bosses would want to suggest a non-existent job opportunity aware of the obvious stain it would impose on their credibility if the job does not ultimately materialise. Your boss may be thinking favourably about your contribution to the organisation.

Your promotion is not necessarily predicated upon your friend losing his job. There could be other possibilities, including looming changes in the organisation that may present numerous job opportunities, including a new one for your friend. Your friend could also have been tipped for another position and he might not, like you, have spoken to anyone about it. Perhaps there will be another position such as your friend currently holds. Or he could have chosen to resign and is yet to alert you about it.

Without full visibility of what is happening in the organisation, it would not be advisable to suspect underhand behaviour on the part of the boss in question or the organisation at large.

If your friend abruptly loses his job without warning, it would signal that similar treatment could befall you or other colleagues, thereby impairing staff engagement and depriving the organisation a crucial premise for continued productivity.

Perhaps there are facts presently hidden from your view that will become plain as events unravel with time. 

Career opportunities rarely make grand ceremonial entries. Since it is difficult to perfectly anticipate every organisational impulse or external factors that may affect the timing of staffing needs, some job opportunities emerge without early warning, therefore focus on your growth and readiness for the positions you desire to take up in future so that when a suitable job opportunity arises, it will find you fully warmed up.