Martin and Dan have been friends for about 10 years and they respect each other's opinion. They talk to each other a couple times a week so they're really familiar with each other's lives.
THE SITUATION:
Martin manages a small group of people. They work really hard and have been successful because they are a team and consider each other family. One of Martin's team members has been going through a lot in the last couple of months. He lost a very close family member around Christmas time and found out in early February that his wife was having an affair and cleaned out their bank account. The poor guy has been in a really bad place lately. Martin's team had a big presentation on Tuesday and they blew it. No one on the team knows that it was the team member that was going through things that dropped the ball. The presentation was so bad that Management is flying in Tuesday for Martin to explain what happened. If Martin tells the higher ups what really occurred, his team member will probably be fired.
Martin is thinking about taking the blame for the bad presentation. If he does that, he will surely be passed over for his yearly bonus and have his first bad mark on his record. The account they lost was THAT big. Dan thinks Martin is out of his mind to take the blame for something he didn't do. He thinks Dan's co-worker is a grown man and needs to take responsibility for his actions. Martin likes the guy and he's a good worker but things have been rough on him. He even came into Martin's office and apologized and begged not to be fired. He's been working late every night to prove to Martin that he is back on his game. Dan told Martin that he is the guy's boss not his and he has to take the personal aspect out of this and be a good manager. He also said that it's not good to lie to corporate managers.
Who do you side with on side takers:
Side with Martin and he will take the fall for his co-worker's mistake.
Side with Dan and Martin will tell the truth and let whatever happens, happen.