Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Explains His 16 Leadership Principles
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has released a series of videos via YouTube expanding on the retail giant’s famous Leadership Principles.
Here, we digest the 16 Amazon Leadership Principles, first set out by company founder Jeff Bezos and his early leadership team as 14 Leadership Principles, and then expanded in 2021 with two more principles just days before Bezos stepped down as CEO.
According to Amazon, these 16 Leadership Principles “are great tools that help us foster autonomous decision making as the company scales, and helps leaders lead beyond their immediate line of sight”.
Jessy himself says: ““These essential tenets of Amazon’s culture and values have arguably been the most important part of our ability to scale the company over the past few decades.”
The Amazon boss is self-effacing enough to admit that absorbing his own Leadership Principles is an ongoing process, and not a one-and-done task to be ticked off.
“I’m still working on it,” he says in the Leadership Principles Explained video series, adding that “people change, competitive dynamics change, products change, technology changes. The Leadership Principles are something you have to constantly work at. When they’re applied well, they’re powerful”.
So, what can today’s CEOs glean from the principles guiding Amazon’s quest to become “the Earth’s most customer-centric company”, as Bezos put it in his first letter to shareholders back in 1997?
Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles
#1 - Customer obsession
Amazon’s leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.
#2 - Ownership
Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say, “That’s not my job.”
#3 - Invent and simplify
Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here”.
Amazon is not afraid to be misunderstood by the market either. “As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time,” it says.
#4 - ‘Are Right, A Lot’
Leaders are right a lot, says Jassy. “They have strong judgement and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.”
#5 - Learn and be curious
Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves, says the retail giant. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.
#6 - Hire and develop the best
Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognise exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organisation. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others.
#7 - Insist on the highest standards
Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high-quality products, services and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.
#8 - Think big
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.
#9 - Bias for action
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. Amazon says it values calculated risk taking.
#10 - Frugality
Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and invention, per Amazon. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.
#11 - Earn trust
Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. “Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odour smells of perfume,” continues the company. “They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.”
#12 - Dive deep
Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are sceptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.
#13 - Have backbone; disagree and commit
Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.
#14 - Deliver results
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.
#15 - Strive to be Earth’s best employer
Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what’s next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.
#16 - Success and scale bring broad responsibility
“We started in a garage, but we’re not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.”
******
Make sure you check out the latest edition of Business Chief, the monthly digital magazine for CEOs of multinational companies
******
Business Chief is a BizClik brand
