Amazon Leadership Principles in Practice (Part 4)

Earn Trust

Before the document e-sign project commenced, I took the time to speak with each developer individually. I listened attentively to their experiences and aspirations, confirming that they were indeed the best team in the company. While one member had over four years of experience and was new to the organization, others had eight or more years, with five or more years spent at the company. They were familiar with the performance of other teams and may not have initially known if ours was the best, but trust was built as we worked together on the project.

Through constructive criticism, the quality of our deliverables improved. I invited the R&D Cloud Department Head to every Scrum Review Meeting, and three months later, I extended this invitation to the Chief Revenue Officer, CEO, and founder. This was a new experience for the team, but they recognized the trust I had in them. After management reviewed their deliverables, they took pride in their accomplishments.

Leaders listen carefully, communicate openly, and treat others with respect. They are candidly self-critical, even when it feels uncomfortable. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.

Dive Deep

In a recent project, I temporarily assumed roles as Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Architect, ensuring that each user story made sense before adding it to the Scrum backlog. To do this, I implemented the stories myself, working on the database, source code, APIs, and user interface end-to-end.

The goal of the first sprint was to have a complete website ready, while the second sprint focused on integrating with a distributed file system using the standard S3 interface and supporting resumable file uploads. By the third sprint, we delved deeper, adding microservice constructs for instrumentation, logging, tracing, load balancing, circuit breaking, and monitoring.

I committed extra time after work and on weekends to explore microservice architectures and frameworks, ensuring that our team was using the best options available. I provided benchmarks of different microservices implementations in various programming languages as references for the development team leaders, allowing them to choose based on their team's skillsets. The final technology stack I architected enabled microservices to be implemented with different technologies, facilitating interaction between them.

Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and maintain a healthy skepticism when metrics and anecdotes differ. No task is beneath them.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

When our team was tasked with implementing a document e-sign solution, I immediately began collaborating with my team, using the best service provider in the market as our primary reference. However, the CTO instructed the R&D Cloud Division Head to use another service provider, who relayed this to a Product Owner, and finally to me.

I shared the upper management's instructions with my team. We respected their requests but decided to continue using the best service provider as our main reference. We also analyzed the features offered by the other provider and committed to ensuring our deliverables not only met those features but exceeded them.

The team understood the risks of not following direct orders, and I assured them I would take full responsibility. As a result, we achieved far more than we had anticipated, earning recognition from the management team.

Leaders have a duty to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when it is uncomfortable. They possess conviction and tenacity, refusing to compromise for the sake of social harmony. Once a decision is made, they commit fully.

Deliver Results

In both my role as an employee and as a semi-leader in projects, I delivered the first workable software within the first sprint (typically one or two weeks). Often, the business teams were not involved in the projects, and no funding was provided for sales or marketing activities, meaning key inputs primarily came from a handful of developers. In one instance, I even took on multiple roles, proactively utilizing my colleagues' spare time. Although the quality was not exceptional, we were able to provide deliverables for these new products.

As a leader in my own company, I ensured that the first workable software was delivered to every customer within two weeks. Even for potential clients in the quotation stage, we provided prototypes within the agreed timeframe at our own cost. This approach helped us win customers and secure referrals.

Leaders concentrate on the key inputs for their business, delivering them with quality and timeliness. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and refuse to settle.

Strive to be Earth's Best Employer

In my company, employees began their journey with us during the interview process. I asked about their career and personal goals for the next five years, ensuring that we could offer them more than they anticipated. We provided opportunities to work with Global 500 customers, present their creative work to these clients, and even establish their own branches operated by themselves. I also gave two cars, including a Benz, to employees to enjoy time with their families.

When employees had new business ideas, they could use company funds to start their projects and leverage internal resources, including human resources, to realize their visions. If an employee needed to relocate to a city where one of our outsourcing clients had a branch office, I successfully referred them for recruitment (with a 100% success rate) to Global 500 companies.

Leaders lead with empathy, create a fun work environment, and make it easy for others to enjoy their work. They have a vision and commitment to their employees' personal success, whether it be at their current company or elsewhere.

Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility

My company has grown from just myself at home to over 20 software engineers with four offices. This larger team has brought increased responsibilities—toward employees, their families, our customers, and society.

Leaders should end each day knowing that they can do even more tomorrow. They create more than they consume and always strive to leave things better than they found them.