The Communicative Leader

Dr. Leah OH
  • 4.0 (4)
  • CAREERS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

On The Communicative Leader, we're making your work life what you want it to be. Do you need years of training or special equipment? Not at all my friends. Simple, yet thoughtful changes in your communication can make great strides in displaying your leadership ability. And why the heck should you care about leadership communication? Well, communication is the yardstick others use to determine whether or not they see you as a leader. Ahhh don't be scared, I got you. We will walk through common organizational obstacles and chat about small, but meaningful communication-rooted changes you can integrate immediately. No more waiting for the workplace to become what you hope it will. Nope. You, my friends, will be empowered and equipped to make those changes. Let's have some fun! Can't get enough? Join our weekly email list to receive episode recaps, previews, and most importantly, communication-rooted solutions for your everyday workday questions and experiences. Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/h91B0v We'd love to hear from you! Send us your questions and requests via email or a voice note to TheCommunicativeLeader@gmail.com. 

  1. 1D AGO

    The ROI of Presence: Navigating Power Dynamics and Value Protection with Bianca Riemer

    Send us Fan Mail A single missed hello. A mismatched message. A room full of people quietly deciding you’re not credible. That’s how millions can evaporate without a single error in the numbers, and it’s why leadership communication is a business-critical skill for finance leaders, CFOs, and technical experts stepping into high-stakes roles. We sit down with Bianca Riemer, a former top-ranked sell-side analyst at Morgan Stanley who now advises CEOs, CFOs, directors, and private equity and fintech leaders on executive presence, boardroom communication, and the make-or-break first 100 days. Bianca shares what surprised her most about the “analysis” job that was really a sales and influence job, and why technical leaders often struggle when they suddenly have to persuade non-technical decision makers with different incentives and risk appetites. You’ll hear a vivid story of a newly promoted CFO who lost investor trust and fundraising leverage by misreading power dynamics and failing to address what the audience actually cared about: what the money was for and what return investors could expect. From there we dig into the silent tax of leadership hesitation, how women in male-dominated industries get punished for trying to fit the wrong mold, and why authenticity can reduce toxicity and turnover. Bianca also connects nervous system regulation to authority, offering practical tools like abdominal breathing and better question framing to help you reset your presence when a meeting starts sliding. If you want sharper stakeholder management, faster decision making, and more credibility in senior rooms, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a leader facing a tough transition, and leave a review with the one communication habit you’re working on right now. Support the show I've poured all my best work into my newest book, Amplifying Your Leadership Voice: From Silent to Speaking Up. If today's episode resonated with you, I know the book will be a powerful tool. You can order it now!  Thanks for listening and for being a part of The Communicative Leader community. To get even more exclusive tips—like the ones we talked about today—join us at TheCommunicativeLeader.com.

    40 min

  2. APR 29

    Unlocking Momentum: Moving from Control to High-Performance Teams with Norman Wolfe

    Send us Fan Mail If your team says they’re aligned but execution keeps slipping, the problem might not be effort or talent. It might be the way we’ve been taught to see organizations. We sit down with Norman Wolfe, founder and CEO of Quantum Leaders and creator of the Living Organization framework, to make the case for a true paradigm shift: stop running companies like machines and start leading them like living systems. We dig into the hard realities behind quiet quitting and chronic disengagement, and why command-and-control leadership can quietly create the very dependence leaders complain about. Norman breaks down a practical alternative to forced alignment: moving toward contribution agreements that give people real choice, which is where empowerment and engagement actually come from. Along the way we explore what it means to build organizational capacity through both capabilities and maturity, so teams can adapt, self-correct, and take ownership without constant oversight. We also unpack the three fields that drive performance in any living organization: activity, relationship, and context. You’ll hear why relationship energy and culture can’t be “managed” by logic alone, how leaders can sense early warning signs by connecting head and heart, and what heart-centered communication looks like when the pressure is high. Norman shares stories from executive life, including what happens when change triggers grief, and why trust and psychological safety depend less on the perfect words and more on who we are being in the conversation. If you want better leadership communication, stronger culture, and strategy execution that actually sticks, hit play. Then subscribe, share this with a leader who’s tired of pushing harder, and leave a review telling us: what would change at work if trust replaced control? Support the show I've poured all my best work into my newest book, Amplifying Your Leadership Voice: From Silent to Speaking Up. If today's episode resonated with you, I know the book will be a powerful tool. You can order it now!  Thanks for listening and for being a part of The Communicative Leader community. To get even more exclusive tips—like the ones we talked about today—join us at TheCommunicativeLeader.com.

    47 min

  3. APR 22

    Conversations as Cultural Infrastructure: Building Culture Through Dialogue with Emma Gibbens

    Send us Fan Mail Culture doesn’t break because people don’t care. It breaks when teams lose the ability to talk honestly with each other. I’m joined by global strategist and author Emma Gibbens, creator of Anatomy of Conversation and co-founder of Acknowledge This, to dig into a leadership communication truth that changes everything: organizational culture is built in conversation, not in posters, policies, or polished talking points. We explore why “policy-first” communication often turns into shelfware, how repetition actually works, and why purpose alignment is something you invite people into rather than push onto them. Emma shares practical tools leaders can use in high-pressure workplaces to move from control to curiosity, including language that gets you on the same side of the problem and simple prompts like “tell me more.” We also unpack the anatomy of a conversation using her campfire metaphor and the difference between having the right content and showing up with the right conduct. If you care about psychological safety, employee engagement, and workplace trust, this part is gold. We close with culture diagnostics you can spot immediately: over-politeness, strategic fog, silence in meetings, and innovation theater where input goes nowhere. We also talk about making culture change fun and meaningful, and why real DEI conversations can’t be replaced by party-planning energy. If you’re ready for more honest dialogue and less fluff, hit play, then subscribe, share with a leader on your team, and leave a review with the question you’re going to start asking this week. Support the show I've poured all my best work into my newest book, Amplifying Your Leadership Voice: From Silent to Speaking Up. If today's episode resonated with you, I know the book will be a powerful tool. You can order it now!  Thanks for listening and for being a part of The Communicative Leader community. To get even more exclusive tips—like the ones we talked about today—join us at TheCommunicativeLeader.com.

    23 min

  4. APR 15

    Leadership Beyond Boundaries: Building a Culture of Shalom with Dr. Kevin Foreman

    Send us Fan Mail Leadership doesn’t break down because people “can’t communicate.” It breaks down because trust gets thin, clarity goes missing, and the hard conversations never happen. I sit down with Dr. Kevin Foreman, known as the People’s Bishop, to talk about a different standard for leadership communication: shalom, a whole-life kind of peace where nothing is missing, nothing is lacking, and nothing is broken. That idea sounds spiritual, but the way Kevin uses it is intensely practical and results-oriented.  We dig into how leaders build one cohesive voice across sectors without becoming performative, why progress beats perfection when you’re trying to launch a vision with zero initial buy-in, and how consistency becomes a brand people can rely on. Kevin also reframes “generational curses” in a way every organization will recognize: repeated dysfunctional patterns that quietly lead to failure. We talk about how to replace stale narratives with a new story people can believe in, and how values-based conversations help you confront gossip, misalignment, and underperformance without turning everything into a personal attack.  Then we connect the dots between wellness, money, and boundaries. Kevin shares why “more is caught than taught,” how physical discipline communicates leadership before you ever say a word, and how financial anxiety can derail culture if leaders don’t teach alignment and meaning around resources. We close with sharp advice for titled leaders and for employees at every level, including what it really means to call the shots and take the shots.  If you want better leadership, healthier culture, and clearer communication at work, listen now. Subscribe to The Communicative Leader, share this with a leader on your team, and leave a review telling us which idea you’re putting into practice first. Support the show I've poured all my best work into my newest book, Amplifying Your Leadership Voice: From Silent to Speaking Up. If today's episode resonated with you, I know the book will be a powerful tool. You can order it now!  Thanks for listening and for being a part of The Communicative Leader community. To get even more exclusive tips—like the ones we talked about today—join us at TheCommunicativeLeader.com.

    46 min

  5. APR 10

    The Win-Win Leader: Building a Culture Where Working Parents Thrive with Dr. Rosina McAlpine

    Send us Fan Mail Work doesn’t stop when school pickup starts and parenting doesn’t pause when the first meeting begins, yet most workplaces still communicate like employees can cleanly separate the two. That gap is where burnout, stress, and quiet quitting grow, especially for working parents carrying a second shift managers never see. We sit down with Dr. Rosina McAlpine, founder of Win-Win Parenting, to talk about why family-friendly leadership is not a perk, it’s a serious retention and performance strategy. We get practical fast: how to run a working parent risk assessment, why averages hide the real problem, and how to gather safer data through anonymous surveys and aggregated EAP insights. Rosina also shares the WINS method and the leadership moves that bring it to life, including manager training, culture building, and a feedback loop that tracks return on investment over time. If you’re searching for actionable ideas on employee wellbeing, psychosocial safety, and leadership communication, this is a clear blueprint. We also talk about the human side of it: how leaders can use simple storytelling to make flexibility feel safe, why one-off “family-friendly days” miss the point, and how equity beats one-size-fits-all support across life stages. You’ll leave with language you can use, metrics you can measure, and a stronger case for why supporting working parents strengthens the future workforce too. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a people leader, and leave a review with the most useful change your workplace could make. Support the show I've poured all my best work into my newest book, Amplifying Your Leadership Voice: From Silent to Speaking Up. If today's episode resonated with you, I know the book will be a powerful tool. You can order it now!  Thanks for listening and for being a part of The Communicative Leader community. To get even more exclusive tips—like the ones we talked about today—join us at TheCommunicativeLeader.com.

    53 min

  6. APR 1

    Conflict Literacy: Transforming Tension into Innovation with Dr. Jen Fry

    Send us Fan Mail Conflict isn’t the thing ruining most teams. Avoiding it is. We sit down with Dr. Jen Fry, TEDx speaker, tech founder, and conflict literacy expert, to get painfully practical about what leaders actually need when tension shows up at work: language, timing, boundaries, and the nerve to say the thing before it becomes a forest fire. We start with Jen’s surprising background in sports geography and use it to unpack a powerful leadership lesson: culture and context shape how people give feedback, hear feedback, and interpret “nice.” From “Midwest nice” to blunt directness, we explore why politeness can delay clarity, how that delay hurts performance, and how leaders can adjust without watering down the message. Then we get into the behaviors that define conflict management skills, including apologizing with real accountability, refusing to be the middleman, and creating space for coworkers to work through disagreement without a supervisor shutting it down. From there, we connect conflict to innovation and organizational culture. Jen explains why first drafts are supposed to be ugly, how curiosity and pushback refine ideas, and why time management in meetings directly affects psychological safety and participation. We also cover workplace boundaries, the difference between urgency and emergency, and what to do when a conflict triggers a deeper reaction. One of the biggest takeaways: build your “feel-bad muscle” so you can be empathetic without turning every no into a negotiation. If you’re serious about leadership communication, conflict resolution, and building a team culture that can actually innovate, press play. After you listen, subscribe, share with a colleague who needs better boundaries, and leave a review. What’s one hard conversation you’ll stop postponing this week? Support the show I've poured all my best work into my newest book, Amplifying Your Leadership Voice: From Silent to Speaking Up. If today's episode resonated with you, I know the book will be a powerful tool. You can order it now!  Thanks for listening and for being a part of The Communicative Leader community. To get even more exclusive tips—like the ones we talked about today—join us at TheCommunicativeLeader.com.

    46 min

  7. MAR 24

    The Trust Dividend: Healing Betrayal to Unlock Authentic Leadership

    Send us Fan Mail Burnout doesn’t always start with too much work. Sometimes it starts with a trust injury we never finished healing. We sit down with Dr. Debi Silber, founder of the Post-Betrayal Transformation Institute, to unpack how unhealed betrayal quietly sabotages leadership performance, workplace communication, and employee engagement, even when you look “fine” on the outside. Debi explains post-betrayal syndrome, the very real mix of physical, mental, and emotional symptoms that can follow betrayal trauma for years. We get specific about what leaders see in themselves and their teams: inability to trust, overwhelm, sadness, conflict, and the kind of brain fog that makes delegation feel risky. She also walks us through the neuroscience, including how a hijacked stress response can narrow thinking and drain executive function, leaving you with a fraction of your usual capacity. The turning point is a clear roadmap. Debi shares the five stages people move through to fully heal, why stage three keeps high achievers stuck in survival mode, and what changes when you reach stages four and five. We also dig into rebuilding the “trust dividend” brick by brick: owning your part, validating impact, telling the truth without corporate polish, showing what you learned, and making specific commitments you actually keep. If you’re trying to create psychological safety after a broken promise or an organizational betrayal like a layoff, this conversation gives you language you can use right away. If this resonates, subscribe to The Communicative Leader, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find it. Where have you seen betrayal show up as burnout at work? Support the show I've poured all my best work into my newest book, Amplifying Your Leadership Voice: From Silent to Speaking Up. If today's episode resonated with you, I know the book will be a powerful tool. You can order it now!  Thanks for listening and for being a part of The Communicative Leader community. To get even more exclusive tips—like the ones we talked about today—join us at TheCommunicativeLeader.com.

    42 min

  8. FEB 24

    The Invisible Load: How Unpacking 'Good Daughtering' Can Transform Leadership Communication and Prevent Workplace Burnout

    Send us Fan Mail Ever feel like the quiet glue holding everything together at home and at work, only to find your clarity fading and your calendar bursting? We dig into the hidden world of invisible labor—what communication scholar Dr. Allison Alford calls “good daughtering”—and how those caring reflexes migrate into our offices, meetings, and leadership choices. From anticipating needs and smoothing conflict to absorbing crisis after crisis, these habits can lift a family yet quietly drain a leader’s focus, confidence, and strategic voice. Together we unpack what daughtering looks like in professional life: jumping in before delegation, volunteering for tasks that don’t advance your career, softening hard truths to keep harmony, and avoiding productive tension. Dr. Alford offers a practical language shift—naming care provisions, emotional triage, and cognitive load—to replace vague labels like “office mom.” With sharper words, teams can finally see, value, and share the work that sustains culture. We also talk policy and practice: treating daughtering-related PTO as legitimate, narrating contributions in small doses, and building norms that reward the thinking and time behind the scenes. The heart of the episode is a reset from reactivity to strategy. We explore the tradeoff between hedonic hits—those fast, feel-good fixes—and eudaimonic satisfaction, the slower payoff of teaching, delegating, and building capacity. Real leadership makes space for others to try, fail, and grow. That means leaving purposeful gaps, rotating non-promotable tasks, and welcoming the kind of tension that produces better ideas. You’ll leave with a simple audit to map your invisible labor, micro-boundaries to protect bandwidth, and conversation starters to make unseen work visible without the guilt spiral. If you’ve been carrying the backpack alone, consider this your signed prescription to set it down and share the load. Subscribe, share this episode with a teammate who does “all the little things,” and leave a review telling us the first invisible task you’re ready to name and renegotiate. Support the show I've poured all my best work into my newest book, Amplifying Your Leadership Voice: From Silent to Speaking Up. If today's episode resonated with you, I know the book will be a powerful tool. You can order it now!  Thanks for listening and for being a part of The Communicative Leader community. To get even more exclusive tips—like the ones we talked about today—join us at TheCommunicativeLeader.com.

    52 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

On The Communicative Leader, we're making your work life what you want it to be. Do you need years of training or special equipment? Not at all my friends. Simple, yet thoughtful changes in your communication can make great strides in displaying your leadership ability. And why the heck should you care about leadership communication? Well, communication is the yardstick others use to determine whether or not they see you as a leader. Ahhh don't be scared, I got you. We will walk through common organizational obstacles and chat about small, but meaningful communication-rooted changes you can integrate immediately. No more waiting for the workplace to become what you hope it will. Nope. You, my friends, will be empowered and equipped to make those changes. Let's have some fun! Can't get enough? Join our weekly email list to receive episode recaps, previews, and most importantly, communication-rooted solutions for your everyday workday questions and experiences. Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/h91B0v We'd love to hear from you! Send us your questions and requests via email or a voice note to TheCommunicativeLeader@gmail.com. 

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Leah OH
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Communicative Leader
  • Show Website
    The Communicative Leader

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