Leadership principles of Amazon - Final

August 21, 2022

So far, we have covered 13 leadership principles of Amazon, and we discussed their meanings, questions, and ways to answer them. In this article, we will cover the last 3 principles, Deliver Results, strive to be Earth's Best Employer, and Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility. We will look at them one at a time and will try to perfect your answers related to them

Deliver Results

A basic and straightforward principle but highly important and probably one of the most important principles on the list. We have already noticed how even while answering the result part holds a lot of importance. Let us see what Amazon means

"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."

Looking at the highlight

"...Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle."

As discussed in the previous principle 'Are Right, A Lot" we have seen that according to Amazon making mistakes is fine as long as you can correct them. Here as well even though you have setbacks you should be able to bounce back and deliver results.

Questions to expect

A time you were driving toward a goal and realized more than halfway in that it may not be the best goal
A goal you set that took a long time to achieve/are still working towards
A time you delivered a project under a tight deadline (leetcode)

How to Answer them using the STAR method

Situation

Once again, we will start we the elaborated relevant details of the situation you were in.

Task

That will be followed by a task and we know how important a task is because that is the problem you are trying to solve.

Action

Weave your actions clearly because you have to show the results, and give feasible details about the action.

Results

The most important part of this principle is the results because you have to show how you delivered results hence making it very clear and precise.

Strive to be Earth's Best Employer

Here is what Amazon says -

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' success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

Looking at the highlights

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' success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

A leader is someone who wins with a team, it is very important to move forward with your team, and most important leadership questions are asked around this principle. This is your chance to showcase your leadership initiative with these questions

Questions to expect

Tell me about a time when you had to motivate a team after a demoralizing event."
Tell me about a time when an employee gave you negative feedback.
Tell me about a time you had to mediate a conflict. (blogtryexponent.com)

Answering via STAR method

Situation

Always at the top, the situation regarding the question should be your priority to paint a clear picture of what is happening.

Task

In leadership-based situations, there are a lot of behavioral challenges that become difficult to explain in the task. You have to be clear and precise about your task and if it is behavioral then it has to have a very strong action.

Action

As discussed above, the action part is important as you have to give step-by-step details of the task.

Results

Star of the show 'results', this shows if you can manage and move forward with your team or not.

Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility

According to Amazon

"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."

Looking at the highlights

It starts with the origin of Amazon and a broad outlook of the world. Amazon expects you to be able to create impact, your responsibilities are not just limited to the work assigned it goes beyond. It can be made clear with the closing lines.

"...Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them."

Questions to expect

Tell me about a time you had a problem and had to discover the real cause.
Describe a time when your project failed.
Tell me about a time you were not satisfied with the status (blogtryexponent.com)

Answering with the STAR method

Situation

STAR method over here could be confusing as we do not know exactly what problem or situation we have to talk about. So, the best bet here would be to pick up one example as use to prove your point.

Task

Then comes the task, pick up the task from the above example that you have chosen.

Action

Again, your hero time and the most important part of the question is your action, what did you do to achieve the impact?

Results

Again, the final part results in the impact that you created with your work and team.

Conclusion

That brings us to the conclusion of our '16 Leadership Principles of Amazon' : go through every detail discussed in the series and try to stay calm and confident in the interview. Good luck with your preparation!