The anchor of the No. 1-rated nightly newscast in the United States was suspended without pay for six months after it was disclosed that he repeatedly told an inaccurate story about coming under enemy fire in the Iraq war. Another notable anchor for the No. 1 cable news program faced allegations that he embellished his experience reporting on a war that happened more than 30 years ago.

In an incident that perhaps might be characterized more about temperament than ethics, a talk-show host apologized for his reply to a message he posted on Twitter. Right before starting his weeklong “time out,” the host acknowledged that his responses were “stupid and childish.”

The Post-Incident Review

Not surprisingly, the details and timelines of who said what and when, along with the array of facts, all got dissected in the various news outlets and social media space. The respective employers responded to the media inquiries while conducting their own internal reviews to determine next steps.

For the newscaster involved in the Iraq incident, the topic of conversation quickly focused on whether he should retain his job. Does a professional journalist who misrepresented the details of an event on multiple occasions deserve to keep his job?

Does it matter that he evidently told the truth while on duty—in his “on the air” reports—but chose to embellish the details when telling the story in personal engagements?

What weight should be given if this is the only serious ethical misstep in a long career? If this infraction is not worthy of dismissal, how will he regain the trust of both colleagues and the public?

Professional Parallels

Journalists have much in common with the executives running local governments. Well, with the notable exceptions being the compensation and perks of the position. But otherwise the similarities align.

Both operate in highly visible public roles. Success is dependent upon building trust with their respective audiences. Both rely on authenticity, objectivity, and credibility as key attributes in creating trust relationships. Conduct that violates the trust generally is punished with suspension or loss of employment.

The Road to Recovery

To be clear, recovery does not always mean keeping your position. In the worst-case scenario, it may not even mean remaining in your chosen profession. After all, the ability to move on from an ethical issue is influenced not only by what you do next, but also by the seriousness of the problem.

The nature of the violation, any prior violations, the willfulness of your conduct, and the level of responsibility are all factors that will influence the outcome. But recovery does mean restoring your integrity, reputation, and employability.

Obviously, the wisest course of action is not to do something wrong in the first place. But when the misstep happens, here are the critical things you can do to improve the likelihood that you will recover.

Be forthright. At the first hint or inquiry about questionable conduct, the best strategy is not to deflect the issue, but to address it in a forthright manner. Put all the facts and details on the table right away. Withholding information makes it appear that you had ulterior motives or something to hide, or were dishonest.

Be unequivocal in your acceptance of responsibility. When faced with the accusation that they did something wrong, far too many people offer a halfhearted or unclear response. This is a time when words really matter.

Consider the following two scenarios and the language selected by those giving the apology. Which one is clearer and more direct?

The news anchor under the microscope for his story about coming under enemy fire in Iraq said over the course of two statements that he made a “mistake” in a “bungled attempt” to honor the military. He “misremembered” and “conflated” the details of the event.

The CEO of Twitter recently told his employees and virtually the world, “We suck.” Those words were used to describe the company’s response to troll attacks on Twitter users. Dick Costolo said, “We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform, and we’ve sucked at it for years. . . . I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It’s nobody else’s fault but mine.”

The best approach is to be clear, forthright, and bold in your statement of responsibility. Get out in front of the issue so that you can get past it.

Reflect, reassess, and move forward. How did you end up here? What behavioral change will it take to ensure that you don’t land here again? As Winston Churchill noted, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

For any of us witnessing an ethical drama, what is our obligation? Certainly, the profession sets the expectation that incidents of unethical conduct will be reported. Standards without accountability, after all, are pretty weak.

But as David Brooks noted in his New York Times column “The Act of Rigorous Forgiving,” “A wrong is an occasion to reevaluate. What is the character of the person in question? Should a period of stupidity eclipse a record of decency?”

We may all be better served by focusing on forgiveness and second chances.