In Working Backwards, Colin Bryar and Bill Carr share insights on how things work inside Amazon. Whilst I’m not a huge fan of using Amazon as an example in most cases, the authors of this book share some great examples of the principles that leaders use to run their teams more effectively.
I think that as managers, we all need some core principles that we can use to guide when running our teams and trying to do the best job possible. In particular, when we’re making difficult decisions or facing big challenges, we can fall back on these principles to help us.
These principles will be different for all of us, but it’s always useful to get inspiration from others on what yours can be.
If I’m being honest, I think there are too many in the following list for Amazon. I’d recommend 3-5 if you’re writing down your own, but these are still useful either way.
1. Customer obsession
Great leaders understand that putting the customer first and working backwards from there will lead to success for the company. As a result, it will lead to success for them and their team. Whether you work for an ecommerce company or not, this is still a useful principle to start with whatever success looks like for the company and work backwards.
For Amazon, this customer obsession is, and has always been, pretty obvious. Their relentless focus on things such as low prices, fast delivery and a personalised customer experience is clear to see.
2. Ownership
Leaders are owners. They take ownership of problems as well as solutions, whilst not shying away from their responsibilities. This not only means that they are effective leaders, leading to better outcomes for their team, but they also set the right example for their team to follow.
They also think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short term results.
3. Invent and simplify
Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams. We can see over the years that Amazon has led the way with innovation, not just in terms of ecommerce and setting a standard, but also in technology and logistics.
4. Leaders are right. A lot
Leaders are expected to have strong judgement and good instincts. In the process of being great leaders, they seek diverse perspectives and are open to their beliefs being challenged.
Of course, we’re not all right 100% of the time. But we should get to the point where we at least get things right far more often than we get them wrong.
5. Learn and be curious
Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities. It can be easy to fall into the trap of believing that we know everything and we take our foot off the gas when it comes to learning new things.
6. Hire and develop the best
Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They understand that hiring people is one of the most important jobs that a leader does and if they get it wrong, it can affect their entire team and culture.
Once they’ve hired people, they then take their role as a coach seriously and focus a lot of time and effort on developing their team.
7. Insist on the highest standards
Leaders have relentlessly high standards and are continuously raising the bar. This means that they understand that they set the example for others to follow and whatever they do will set the standard.
This also includes allowing standards to drop and not addressing it. If this happens, a new standard is set because whatever drop in standards that you allow, will become the new standard.
8. Think big
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Effective leaders will communicate a bold direction to their team which then inspires results. They are able to take a big idea and break that down to smaller goals and tasks which their team can work on.
9. Bias for action
Leaders value speed and know how much it matters to move quickly where possible. Leaders at Amazon understand that many decisions and actions are reversible and therefore, do not need extensive study or deliberation.
10. Frugality
Leaders at Amazon need to accomplish more with less. This is probably one of their most famous principles given the story of Jeff Bezos making his first desks out of old wooden doors so that he could save money.
11. Earn trust
Leaders listen attentively to their team, speak candidly and treat others with respect. They understand that this will lead to trust being developed from their team.
12. Dive deep
Leaders operate at all levels, staying connected to the details and metrics of how their team operates and succeeds. When the anecdotes from their team and the metrics differ, they are sceptical and investigate why this is happening.
13. Have backbone
Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree. They should be able to do this in a way that doesn’t damage trust with their team or in a way that discourages their team from making decisions in the future. They believe in a disagree and commit culture, meaning that even if they and their team don’t fully agree on a decision, that they will all commit to it moving forward.
14. Deliver results
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely manner.
So, what are your principles for being an effective manager and leader?
Remember, you probably don’t need as many as Amazon, but you can use these for inspiration to outline perhaps 3-5 principles that you value and can use.
