The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 8 letter word ROLE REVERSAL
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
R
O
L
E
R
E
V
E
R
S
A
L
More clues leading to the result ROLE REVERSAL
Buddy explains!
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.