Denise Atwood (deniseatwoodpllc@gmail.com) is the owner of Denise Atwood, PLLC in Gilbert, AZ. Chris Atwood (catwood70@gmail.com) the Traffic and Logistics Manager at Hemisphere GNSS in Scottsdale, AZ.

“Usually, an organization’s ethics are only as good as its leaders. To create an organizational culture that promotes ethical conduct and personal responsibility, leaders need to serve as role models for others.”^[1] In addition, leaders should continue to communicate with employees in the form of one-to-one conversations, phone communication, or email. Communication keeps the relationship with the employee and leadership fresh so there are no gaps in expectations. Finally, clear communication will allow for acceptance of future operational changes and challenges without impacting internal and external customers. Leaders can positively impact the organization’s ethics by incorporating the four A’s into leadership practice:

• Accuracy

• Accountability

• Attitude

• Attendance

There are five core principles of journalism.^[2] For non-journalists, this can be enlightening, because the principles are also applicable to leaders and organizations. The five core principles are: Accuracy and truth, Independence, Impartiality and fairness, Humanity, and Accountability.