Choosing Team Trust Over Personal Gain

The Situation

As development team manager during the CBC-LCP-West Group merger, I led a team of 10 experienced developers and support staff who were understandably concerned about potential office closures. Mergers typically result in consolidations, and my team - having been through this before - regularly asked me whether our Deerfield location was at risk.

The Ethical Bind

When I approached my manager about reducing to part-time hours to finish my degree, she shared confidential information that the office would indeed close within months. She told me strictly in confidence and only because it affected my personal education plans. She had taken a professional risk to help me make an informed decision.

However, my team continued asking me directly about closure rumors. As their manager and trusted source of company information, I faced an impossible choice: lie to them repeatedly or betray the confidence of a manager who had tried to help me.

The Decision

I couldn't maintain my integrity as their leader while lying to their faces about something that fundamentally affected their careers and families. These were experienced professionals who deserved accurate information to make their own decisions. I also couldn't betray my manager's trust.

The only ethical path was to remove myself from the situation entirely. I resigned.

The Cost

Walking away meant forfeiting approximately $10-15,000 in severance pay I would have received when the office eventually closed.

The Principle

Leadership requires that your team can trust you completely, especially during uncertain times.