> The bulk of the responsibility is, and should be, on the leader to avoid misunderstandings in the first place.

That's just laziness on the part of the engineer who says that - it's not only unrealistic, it's intellectually lazy not to understand communication better, and it's going to apply to everyone they talk to, not just executives. It's highly unproductive. It's not serious to say 'I'll communicate how I want, and it's up to other people to understand me'.