What separates Amazon leadership principles from most companies values?

"𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 ones"...

What separates Amazon Web Services (AWS) 17 leadership principles from most companies values?

Most company values are displayed on a glossy wall, but not really lived in reality.

However, I think Amazon's 17 Leadership Principles diverge from typical company values (and the process for building them).

What I like about these 17 principles are how they’re intentionally designed, serving as a 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 for the business. 

All centred around their core focus: 🎯

Customer obsession, and its mission: 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳-𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺.

They're weaved into the fabric of the business. Right from job advertisement, onboarding, day-to-day operations, and the boardroom 🧵

The tenets don’t only clarify 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, they describe 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 in a few sentences. Enough nuance, but not too much. 


Perhaps though, the ingenuity lies in how it's anchored in history. You can trace the principles back to Jeff Bezos’ first letter to stakeholders in 1997.

"𝘖𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴" - the key thread in the letter 📝

I’m pretty sure this artifactual letter isn't a side note. It's an intentional anchor that connects employees, and stakeholders, at an emotional level 🤲

The principles are a clear statement of intent. This is the way we do things around here...


...“unless you have another way”. A mantra that sits alongside the principles 👏🏼


An invitation to challenge, contribute, and innovate, encapsulated by the tenet to "𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦".

Many lessons from this:

💡 Have a very clear singular mission that’s compelling and inspiring

💡 Build principles with a clear intent, anchored in rich story and history

💡 Describe the behaviours underpinning the principles

💡 Live the principles with conviction everyday (and review)

💡 Create an environment where people challenge the status quo

Great post by Daniel Slater & James Houlton always tells a good story around this. 

Check out the website link here.