AWS leadership: The secret to building world-class teams

This week marks my second year at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
 
When I started, I had no idea what to expect beyond Amazon’s reputation as a global cloud leader, a conglomerate with complex systems and processes. I expected a great workplace with interesting projects and very smart people. I expected some tiered management with some unavoidable bureaucracy for a company of this size and scale. What I got was so much more. I’ve uncovered a secret at Amazon that few people on the outside know and understand: our Leadership Principles are so much more than a corporate mission statement; they truly guide the success and innovation in everything we do.
 
It all started when I took the role at AWS as general manager for global demand & operations. I worked with a small team of dedicated leaders who set their sights on specific targets and goals. Together we leveraged Amazon’s extensive processes and systems and reverse-engineered—known as “working backwards” in Amazon parlance—the success we saw around us to merge our products and teams. In a short period, we’ve grown significantly, have gone from national to international, and have turned five languages into 36. Looking back, it’s been an incredible journey getting from where we started to where we are today.
 
When I began my job, I learned about Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles. I read through them of course, but living them was another matter entirely. All of these Leadership Principles can be traced back to Amazon’s greatest asset: its people are the margin of difference. While building teams at AWS, I’ve learned to give “bar-raising” feedback, manage mechanisms, leverage one- and two-way doors—which, at Amazon, means we carefully consider decisions that are high risk vs. low risk, and permanent vs. reversible—as well as make good hiring decisions.

I’ve now interviewed more than 50 candidates, which has taught me the importance of creating and maintaining a “raising the bar” culture. In our customer-obsessed environment, teammates need to work autonomously and get up to speed quickly, and we provide support to help them thrive in this environment. We have to quickly uncover a person’s ability to adapt and challenge the people around them. Most importantly, continuing to build each other up is the key to building something greater.
 
An important Leadership Principle that has defined my work is Ownership. When something is wrong or broken, leaders have to own the process of reconnecting with their team, gathering facts to solve problems, and creating experiences together. Everyone at every level has the opportunity to be an owner. Because of this, we’re more likely to weigh long-term outcomes against short-term results.
 
While building for the future, we have to constantly innovate. We need to continue fostering a culture that welcomes new ideas. Amazon teaches us to keep learning and to stay curious. Leaders never stop learning—we’re always analyzing where we are and where we can go, while working to maintain a safe environment for questions and collaboration. We’re pushed to think big, in bold new ways. We’re inspired to take big steps. We build better tools to engage our customers through data-driven change.