Comment by davesque

Why can't they just say something like, "I really shouldn't have said X Y Z. It was insulting and I'm embarrassed that I chose that way of speaking to an employee. As a leader, it's important that I be encouraging and receptive." In other words, don't vaguely allude to what happened by saying there was "a communication failure." CEOs like to act like their subordinates are children and can't tell the difference.