CEO influencers you should know about: John Legere

How many people really feel as if they know their CEO? Most business executives are removed, distant and often disconnected from their employees and customers. This is precisely what makes John Legere, the brash-talking, live streaming and magenta-wearing CEO of T-Mobile so unique and brilliant.

When Legere took over T-Mobile in 2012, the carrier had lost $4.3 billion and was severely struggling to compete in the mobile market. Legere subsequently brought the company back from the brink of disaster by overhauling and revamping the brand. A crucial element of this seismic shift was transforming T-Mobile’s CEO from the former generic and nameless figure into an accessible and dynamic personality.

Legere has essentially shattered the conventional image of the average suited and booted CEO who leads behind the closed doors of their office and instead built a business model around his own personality. He spends his days dressed in bright company branded clothing and directly interacting with T-Mobile’s customers over social media. He has amassed 5.83 million followers on Twitter, 320k on Facebook and 58.8k on Instagram. One of his most popular instalments is #SlowCookerSunday in which he prepares a new slow cooked meal every Sunday and streams the entire process via Facebook live.

"It's something I'm doing every minute of the day," Legere told CNNMoney. "It's all I do. When I sit alone at a bar, I do Twitter. Maybe that's a little sad. But my peer CEOs would never do it, because it's way too hard and very unglamorous”. As seen across his various online platforms, he lives and breathes the T-Mobile brand. Legere’s ubiquitous and fun presence on social media breaks down those traditional barriers and forms a personal connection between the customers and the company, not to mention the employees. How many CEOs can say they directly and effectively engage with their workforcillions of their customers eand his workforce every ay? By stepping out of the confines of the boardroom and keeping his finger on the pulse of what is happening within his business, Legere leads by example, gives the company a face and communicates in an authentic and direct manner.

Legere’s success can teach us all a lesson. By shaking things up and creating more transparency between your CEO and their employees and customers, your workplace culture will thrive. If you would like to see how we’ve been transforming CEO communications through vlogging for some of the UK’s business leaders then contact us at hello@feedbackfilms.com