Amazon founder and thought leader Jeff Bezos employed a multitude of leadership skills and strategies to dominate eCommerce. Here are 5 things every leader can adopt from Jeff Bezos to propel their own career.
There isn’t a business around that doesn’t lean on the unmatched business acumen of e-commerce titan, founder of Amazon, and one of the richest people in the world, Jeff Bezos.
As a transformational leader who broke all the molds completely, he undeniably disrupted traditional retail and forever changed the way every American household does their shopping. Not only that, Amazon has created more jobs in the last decade than any other company.
So when it comes to making an impact, every aspiring leader should start taking notes from Jeff Bezos. Because if there is one thing more exciting than snagging the best Prime Day deals, it’s learning from the kingpin himself on how to leave behind a leadership legacy. Let’s take a deep dive into the secrets that elevated the arguably most prolific pioneer of our lifetime.
Jeff Bezos is the Quintessential Innovator
As any Amazon employee will assert, nobody is as fiercely dedicated to constantly improving the customer experience as Jeff Bezos. After all, you don’t go from selling books out of your garage to revolutionizing eCommerce without continually imagining new possibilities and improved ways of operating.
As such, leaders would do well to remember there is no idea that is off limits or too outlandish to implement if it means leading in innovation and serving the customer better. Being customer-obsessed with a propensity to innovate and envision has been key to helping Amazon grow and expand exponentially.
Be like Jeff: Company growth is a team effort. Always think of new and better ways to serve your customers and encourage your team to envision and bring any new ideas to team meetings.
Jeff Bezos is Customer Obsessed
It's well known that Jeff Bezos always leaves one seat empty at the company's most important meetings. It's there to remind his fellow executives and managers about the most important person in the room: the customer.
As companies progress and different challenges persist, leaders can inadvertently lose sight of the most important facet of a growing business: serving the customer.
Be like Jeff: Keep your customer at the forefront of everything you do. When metrics, spreadsheets, schedules full of meetings, and process pain points cloud your purpose, try to connect your work directly to an outcome that positively impacts the customer while eliminating whatever you can that doesn’t.
Jeff Bezos Plays the Long Game
As a leader, long-term success reigns supreme. Trends will inevitably fade and just like that, we looked up and Blockbuster was gone. Jeff Bezos knows success is an evolutionary, ever-changing process which is why he has a reputation for never sacrificing long-term results for short-term success.
Be like Jeff: Think about the impact of your decisions on other departments, sites, and the customer over time. Contemplate future outcomes, scalability, and long-term value. Coach and mentor your team to grasp and connect with the big picture, how their role supports the overall objectives of the organization, and conceptualize ways to consistently be forward-thinking in your approach.
Jeff Bezos is Serious About Career Development
One of the biggest drivers of employee burnout is employees feeling like they’ve been lost in the shuffle, gone unnoticed, and not being given development opportunities to expand their skills and get a promotion. Jeff Bezos is acutely aware of how critical top performers are to a successful business and how to keep them energized about their work.
Be like Jeff: Investing in your best employees should never be relegated to the back burner. In this War for Talent, don’t ignore or delay top performers’ career development initiatives or you’ll lose them at the drop of a hat to companies and leaders who see their worth here and now (and treat them as such).
Jeff Bezos Expects Radical Ownership—From Himself and Others
A standout leader is one who takes radical ownership of their own work as well as that of their team. Conversely, an easy way to plummet as a leader and lose the trust of those around you is to deflect or place blame when failures or unsatisfactory or unexpected outcomes occur.
While Jeff is known to adopt a more autocratic leadership style with rigorous standards, the principle of taking radical ownership is ubiquitous in all successful leadership circles.
Be like Jeff: Own your work and own your mistakes. Trying to bury them or worse, pretend you don’t make them at all, is a sign of inauthentic leadership and poor self-awareness that through your best attempts to conceal, people still notice and are put off by.
Showing vulnerability and sharing about your not-so-braggable moments makes you a relatable leader that people want to openly connect with and follow.
Get Empowered for Impact
Leaders everywhere are faced with insurmountable changes today. If you want to hone in on your inner Jeff Bezos or simply enhance your skills as a leader and achieve peak performance in the post-pandemic workforce, ExecTrek™ can help.
Discover how to zero in on behaviors that can impact business and propel you forward. From communication and time management to decision-making and image optics, RC3 Partners provides transformational Executive Coaching and Leadership Development to leaders seeking their competitive edge. Contact us today to learn more.
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