"I facilitate various strategic planning and reflection meetings for our organization. I recently facilitated a session with a group of teams that collaborated on a series of complex projects. There was a lot of conflict within the overall group and some of the feedback raised during the session was negative.

I felt like the session went well overall. It seemed like the participants were open and honest and genuinely wanted to improve before their next round of projects began. However, the program manager of their group came to me after the meeting and asked me to adjust several points that were raised before the notes were shared. She knew that her senior management would see the negative feedback and she was afraid it would reflect poorly on her specifically.

Her request made me uncomfortable, but I let her know that it would be unethical for me to alter the feedback from the meeting. The participants put their trust in me to offer a neutral perspective and to accurately capture their thoughts. I reminded her that some of the feedback centered around being afraid to be honest with senior management and her proposed action would serve to exacerbate that issue. I was empathetic to her fears and let her know I understood why she was asking. I then asked if she would be open to an alternative.

I offered to schedule a meeting to share the feedback with the senior management group. That way, I could provide context and gain buy-in on the action plan the teams devised to improve their processes. She hesitated at first but thanked me for suggesting an ethical path that also honored her needs. The meeting with the senior managers went well and they offered their support for several of the improvement opportunities. I am grateful the program manager was willing to try something new and that the needs of the overall group were addressed authentically."