Amazon is a very successful company and is admired throughout the world. In a few short decades, it became a top globally-recognized brand and has influenced countless other businesses to rethink their approach to innovation. Amazon Web Services (AWS) the cloud computing pioneer, is the fastest enterprise software company in the history of the world.
So, what lessons do Amazon’s Leadership Principles and daily mechanisms hold for those who are actively or passively looking for their next career move? A lot.
CUSTOMER OBSESSION: The foundational Leadership Principle at Amazon is a relentless pursuit of understanding durable customer needs and then driving solutions to address those needs. Anyone who has worked there or studied the company knows about the “flywheel” where connected customer needs (for selection, low prices, quick delivery) feed off each other to create customer loyalty. Would be job seekers should apply the same discipline to their search. Rather than applying to every role they see or trying to be “everything to everyone,” they should focus on their ideal customer profile, in this case, a hiring manager at a particular type of company that has needs they can best fill. When you read job descriptions, look for the problems they cite or imply in the description. What are they looking to accomplish? What are their barriers to success? What problem are they trying to solve with this hire?
For ideas on how to do narrowing down, I recommend professor Steve Dalton’s The 2-Hour Job Search (thank you, Gina Riley, for the original recommendation). For those who are in the thought leadership business, see David C. Baker’s The Business of Expertise (thank you, Drew Neisser for that recommendation) and The Thought Leaders Practice from Matt Church, Peter Cook, and Scott Stein (thank you, Marc Wolfe for that recommendation).
WORKING BACKWARDS: The most famous Amazon mechanism is the working backwards process. It is codified in a PRFAQ, which outlines in a fake press release format what you propose to do for that customer need you identified. You can do the same thing for your career. Sit down and write a press release announcing your appointment for your next job. As you might have been taught, start with the headline and the “customer quote” (in this case, the hiring manager’s quote) that outlines why you were such a great fit for their needs. This sounds easy but is very hard, and that is the point. It forces you to think deeply about what you bring to the table, what needs you solve, and why you are better than any alternative (including the “hire no one and try to do the work with the folks you already have” scenario, which is very common). This will give you confidence when networking, applying or interviewing for new roles as you can articulate your value proposition.
For more information on how to write out strategy in this way, see chapter 6 of my book, Well Made Decisions. I also recommend Colin Bryar and Bill Carr’s Working Backwards.
LEARN AND BE CURIOUS: If you find yourself out of work and considering the next steps, don’t forget to apply this critical leadership principle. Take the time to get a new certification, take a course, or learn a new skill. Build a website, start a blog, train for a 5k, dive deep into a technical topic, and add to your toolkit in a way that not only bolsters your resume, but gives you a sense of accomplishment. A job search, especially an active one, can drain your energy, and so many days, you can feel like you aren’t making progress. Focusing on learning daily gives you back that agency and prepares you well for what is next. When you do land your next appointment, you may find it was something that you were not qualified to do before you jumped into learning!
How else are you applying Leadership Principles to your career plan?