4 Amazon executives share their best leadership tips and career lessons

J. Ofori Agboka, Vice President, People Experience and Technology

When you change one person’s life, that impact can positively affect their family, community, and everyone around them. In the professional world, that often translates to a positive impact on the person’s team, their business function, and the company as a whole. That’s why investing in the growth of the people who work for your company is so important. Resources like strong benefits, ongoing training, and prepaid education have been game changers for many employees at Amazon. We’ve seen that one person can become a force multiplier for good at the company, and in their community, when they have the support they need to grow.

Sarah Rhoads, Vice President, Global Workplace Health & Safety

Effectively executing on a long-term vision isn’t like a light switch you can simply turn on and off. It’s important to be methodical and develop a thorough plan with test runs, when possible, before charging ahead at full speed.

My team takes a “crawl, walk, run” approach to nearly everything we do, and we build plans with reversible phases incorporated. We typically run trials before we actually deploy a new technology or process broadly, which helps set us up for long-term success. For example, we may test a new technology in a single fulfillment center (crawl), then if we see positive results, we look to scale it to several facilities in the same country or business line (walk), and then we eventually introduce it worldwide across our operations (run).

This “crawl, walk, run” approach was also commonly used during my time in the Navy. There’s about a year and a half of training between flying an aircraft by yourself for the first time (aka “solo”) and landing on a moving ship at sea. Student naval aviators start with a single-engine propeller airplane, operating from land only. Then they work their way up to flying a jet, learning complex tactics and maneuvers, landing on a moving aircraft carrier, and even breaking the sound barrier. It’s a gradual process that takes time, but the thorough training is important since safety and excellence is critical, just like it is at Amazon.

Stefano Perego, Vice President, International Operations & Global Operations Services

I grew up with a mindset that it’s important to fulfill your sense of duty. Working on a farm instilled the importance of delivering on time, respecting your work, and fulfilling your promises—even when the weather has other plans. That mindset has been critical in helping me solve big challenges in my career. The promise we make to deliver for Amazon customers is what makes me excited to get up and go to work every morning.

One of the most important things you can do as a leader is to define your purpose. Identify the upstream and downstream impact you want your team to have, then figure out how you and each of your employees will contribute to achieve that goal. Once you have it figured out, help your team understand that desired impact to keep everyone working toward the same vision.

Beryl Tomay, Vice President, Amazon Transportation

Over the years I’ve deliberately sought opportunities to challenge myself to continue to learn and grow. There are a few key strategies that I use that have really helped me. First, put yourself in uncomfortable situations. For example, in the past I’ve struggled with public speaking so I looked for ways to practice this skill and develop experience. Second, take every interaction as an opportunity to learn something. I’m constantly surrounded by people who know more than me, and I try to soak up as much information and value as I can from every moment. Finally, when you don’t know something, seek out an expert who you can learn from to get better. At the end of the day, learning requires deliberate investment, but it’s well worth it.

We hope you gained a few helpful pointers to make a positive impact on your team. Check back for more as we add new tips from more Amazon leaders.