As you climb up the corporate ladder, you are forced to make a lot of unpopular decisions. You have to have the best interest of your workplace in mind, and when this leads to decisions that affect employees — extending contracts, hiring and firing, disciplining wrongdoers, etc — you begin to lose friends.
You cannot be a boss and a friend at the same time. You can try, but there will come a time when you have to set aside friendship and make hard decisions.
When that happens, you have to make decisions that are in the best interest of your place of work. These decisions will definitely be unpopular with some. But as long as you know that you are doing what’s in the best interest of your place of work, you should forge ahead.