The Social Media Playbook for <scp>CEOs</scp> : How to Use Transformational Leadership‐Oriented Language on Social Media Successfully

Research on CEOs’ social media communication as a leadership instrument remains scarce. The current study addresses this gap by exploring the relationship between CEOs’ leadership‐oriented language and user engagement (i.e., sharing behavior). Based on an automated text analysis of 24,719 posts from 172 CEOs of Global Fortune 500 companies on X, one of the largest social media platforms previously known as Twitter, this research examines how CEOs’ leadership‐oriented language influences users’ sharing behavior. In particular, it focuses on transformational leadership (TFL), a crucial approach in social media contexts. Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling, the findings revealed that CEOs’ use of linguistic indicators reflecting TFL affects users’ sharing behavior in partially unexpected and contradictory ways. Specifically, using positive emotional language and exclusive words in social media posts can diminish users’ sharing behavior. Conversely, content‐rich posts, replies that open a dialogic loop, and posts reflecting psychological closeness all positively influence users’ sharing behavior. These findings underscore the complex nature of leadership‐oriented language and provide novel insights into its effectiveness on social media. The current study offers specific guidelines for how CEOs can effectively utilize TFL‐oriented language to engage their audiences while minimizing the risk of unintended negative consequences.