In this blog series, “Wisdom from,” we look to successful leaders around the world, past and present, to see what insights they can share with us to make us better people, personally and professionally. Below is a window into Jeff Bezos.
ABOUT JEFF BEZOS
Note: Numbers in parenthesis refer to the sources in the Additional Reading at the bottom
- Son of a Cuban immigrant. His father came to the United States when was 16
- As a teenager, he worked on his Grandfather’s (whom he called Pop) ranch cataloging Lazy G. He worked the cattle, laid pipes, and repaired tractors (1)(8)
- Graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science (3)
- Founded Amazon in 1994 after making a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle. He wrote up the business plan for his idea of Amazon during the trip (3)
- Early investor in Google (3), Air BnB, Nextdoor, Twitter, Uber, and many more (3)
- Opened Amazon’s doors on July 16, 1995, after inviting 300 friends to best test the site. Named the company after the South American River, “Amazon” (5)
- Began selling CDs and videos in 1998 (7)
- Released the Kindle in 2007 (7)
- Networth: >$1B and became the richest man in the world in October 2017, according to Forbes (2)
- Seems himself as a “Change junkie” (1)
- Named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999 (3)
- Selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s best leaders in 2008 (3)
1 KEEP COMMUNICATION SIMPLE
Bezos pursued his idea of a decentralized, disentangled company where small groups can innovate and test their visions independently of everyone else. He came up with the notion of the “two-pizza team”: If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large. (1)
2 SLOW TO HIRE, FAST TO FIRE
Bezos told friends in the early days of Amazon, “I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.”
3 TAKE RISKS
“One of Jeff’s most recurrent phrases, when someone has a good idea, is, ‘We can measure that,’ ” says Patty Stonesifer. She adds: “It’s one thing to be a data junkie who just looks at history, Jeff takes a prospective view. He takes risks, and he changes and changes.” (1)
“The best way to think about it was to project my life forward to age 80,” he told his brother about deciding to start Amazon. He wanted to make a decision that “minimized my regrets. You don’t want to be cataloging your regrets,” he said, adding that if his project did fail, “I would be very proud when I was 80 that I tried.” (8)
4 STICK TO YOUR CORE MISSION/VALUE
From the earliest days of founding Amazon, Bezos’ vision was “to create the world’s most customer-centric company, the place where you can find and buy anything you want online.”
5 MAKE DECISIONS…WITH DATA AND WITHOUT DATA
Bezos states, “the most junior person in the company can win an argument with the most senior person with regard to a fact-based decision.” For intuitive decisions, on the other hand, you have to rely on experienced executives who’ve honed their instincts. (1)
6 TAKE LEAPS OF FAITH
Over the years, Bezos has taken some big risks with some paying off and others failing big. For example, there was much anxiety and push back inside Amazon when they were contemplating letting visitors search the full texts of hundreds of thousands of books. It paid off tremendously with an increase in sales and an increase in word of mouth. On the side of failure, Amazon’s foray into auctions was not successful. It did lead Amazon to begin allowing competitors to advertise on its site, thereby providing consumers more choices–something that goes back to Amazon’s mission (see #4 above).
7 BE RESILIENT
Pop, Bezos’ Grandfather, once tore the top of his thumb off. He was so mad that he threw it on the ground and then drove himself to the hospital. Now the doctors could only do a skin graft from his butt. Bezos distinctly remembers how from then on, “his thumb grew butt hair.” Rather than complain, Pop would just shave his thumb along with his face. “Each time you have a setback, you’re using resilience and resourcefulness, and inventing your way out of a box,” says Bezos. (8)
8 ON CHOOSING A ROMANTIC PARTNER
When Bezos decided he was ready to settle down, his friends set him up on tons of blind dates. He knew he had “found his wife,” when he met someone truly resourceful. “I wanted a woman who could get me out of a third-world prison,” Bezos said.
9 ON WHAT DEFINES YOU
“We all get to choose our life stories. It’s our choices that define us, not our gifts. You can only be proud of your choices,” Bezos says. You either choose a life of “ease and comfort” or of “service and adventure. When you’re 80, you’ll be more proud of the latter.”
Additional Reading on Jeff Bezos
- Fast Company: Inside the Mind of Jeff Bezos
- Forbes
- Wikipedia
- Biography
- TED Talk Page
- Biography on Britannica
- Conversation with his younger brother Mark: What does Jeff Bezos believe in? Focus, harmony and optimism … inspired by his grandfather, and Star Trek
- Poignant and engrossing personal story from Bezos, “Choose to Be Kind” (read/watch)
Photography Source: DepositPhotos
#chiefstoryteller #communication #leadership #amazon #jeffbezos
