Explain that you were working in the interest of all involved parties. Mention the welfare of your coworker, the needs of the team, and the necessity of bringing it to your superiors in your example.

Some employees might be on the lookout for coworkers' mistakes. Their motive for bringing a mistake to the attention of management might be out of self-gain. Avoid examples where bringing others' mistakes to light might come across as intending to make yourself look better.

"I had a co-worker who seemed to be struggling. They seemed sleep-deprived, and their attention to detail wasn't what it once was. I tried to talk to them about it, but they weren't forthcoming about what was going on. I reviewed their work, just to help them out, and fixed a lot of mistakes. It got so bad that I decided it was time to bring it to the attention of my supervisor. They pulled us both outside and gave me a chance to speak first. It turns out they had some pretty serious health issues. They didn't want to miss work because they needed to maintain their hours to continue getting their health benefits. That's when our supervisor let us know they had a program for situations like this and that they wouldn't lose their benefits for missing work."

"One summer in college, I took a non-profit construction job helping with low-income housing. I was interested in the project management side of things. I worked with this person who wanted to learn how to refurbish old windows. The problem was, they kept breaking the glass panes. After a while, they were on a 100% shattering rate, and it was costing the project money. I decided it wasn't my choice or theirs to determine if they were the best fit for that task. I brought it to the attention of the project leader. They put that person on installing doors instead, and they did a great job. Doors are harder to break."