Listening With Curiosity: Insights From a Year of Sidekicks Conversations

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2023 / It's been just over a year since we launched "Sidekicks Conversations," a video series where I sit down with some of the brightest minds and talent in tech, business, sports and beyond to discuss their unique journeys and diverse perspectives. Our goal was to create a show that felt like two friends chatting in a bar. No prescribed agenda, just real conversation. And that's exactly what Sidekicks - which takes its name from our iconic Sidekick flip phone AND the pub on campus at our Bellevue headquarters - has become.

No topic is too small or too big. For example, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff cast artificial intelligence as "not just the most exciting technology of OUR lifetime, but the most exciting technology of ANY lifetime." AI is certainly going to change how companies like ours operate.

AI is just one of several hot topics that have surfaced so far during 10 Sidekicks episodes, which for me have reinforced the importance of mindful, active listening. CEOs by nature do a lot of talking, so I've come to appreciate the opportunity that Sidekicks gives me to turn the tables and listen. And in doing so, I've found that my colorful and well-accomplished guests open up not only about their professional successes, but also reveal the personalities that what make them who they are. As I learn from their experiences, our audience does, too.

Listening isn't new for T-Mobile. For more than a decade and going strong, listening to customers and then disrupting and innovating on their behalf has been the centerpiece of our "Un-carrier" strategy.

My leaders and I regularly travel around the country, popping into Customer Experience Centers, retail stores and town halls to hear directly from the heartbeat of our company - our employees. We've built a culture around employees being unafraid to call out dumb policies or ways of doing things that don't make sense - things that big companies lose track of if they're not careful. In fact, this month we rolled out an "Un-carrier Ideas" initiative for employees to submit ideas for spending smarter while making it "better over here" for customers. Within a few days, hundreds of ideas poured in! I can't wait to see what actions we take based on these ideas.