The Leader's Journey Podcast Moving Past the Memo - Conversations in Organizations
Feb 28, 2026
Rick Rarick, leadership coach and former HR and management development exec at Levi Strauss, Coca-Cola and others. He talks about communication as an ongoing cultural practice, why front-line supervisors shape how messages travel, and how listening, check-ins, and synchronous conversations prevent distortion and build trust during change.
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Psychological Safety Unlocks Honest Feedback
- People fear speaking truth to power; leaders must create safety and show appropriate responses to encourage candor.
- Rick notes that thanking people and responding well to tough feedback produces far better information than memos alone.
Always Explain The Why Behind Decisions
- Provide the context and the decision process when announcing changes so people won't invent their own narratives.
- Rick stresses leaders are good at shareholder context but must explain the why to employees to avoid harmful assumptions.
Leader Forced Phone Calls To Stop Slack Misfires
- A leader told a millennial team: pick up the phone even if you hate it, to stop fragmented Slack/text exchanges.
- Rick uses this to show synchronous calls reduce misunderstanding compared with purely asynchronous chat.