When you hear about a major scientific discovery or innovation – cure for cancer, smartphone battery that will last a month, flying cars – what is your take? Do you mark your internal calendar to set expectation of delivery based on what is reported? If so, have the history of such promises typically materialized? Behind every scientific breakthrough that makes its way to the mass media is a complex landscape of ethical decision points. Would awareness of the underlying ethics of what scientists study, discover, and communicate improve your ability to judge the value of reported breakthroughs? Is the journey from lab bench to frontpage media intrinsically flawed, or just occasionally hijacked by bad actors? This talk will explore these questions for the sake of discussion and to offer some perspective; after all, lessons in ethical leadership from scientific research have strong relevance in the business world, and vice versa.