Leadership Principles 

Every team has a set of rules and principles they try to follow in order to be successful. Jeff Bezos has his own principles  applied to his team and has found success and some of those principles are:

• Embrace failure:

  • A balanced approach to failing, called "Task Relevant Maturity," involves providing guidance for high-risk tasks and allowing freedom for low-risk projects. This approach will contribute to an open way of thinking in the company and accelerate growth by giving employees opportunities to learn from experience.

• Use meeting memos:

  • Using meeting memos is a method of preparing for meetings where attendees are provided with a written brief, usually a six-page memo, prior to the meeting. This memo serves to provide context for the meeting and encourage active participation and understanding among all attendees.

  • Bezos believes that this practice contributes to a more productive meeting by leveling the playing field, making the goal of the meeting clear, and encouraging organizers to put effort into preparation.

• Keep innovating:

  • A philosophy of embracing new opportunities and exploring new ideas. This means continuously seeking knowledge, being open to new sources of inspiration, and experimenting with new initiatives. The goal is to foster innovation and creativity as a leader, never becoming complacent with the status quo. This approach has contributed to Amazon's success as a company.

• Use the two pizza method:

  • As mentioned before, this principle is for organizing and communicating within teams. A team shouldn't be larger than what two pizzas can feed, and therefore, teams should be limited to eight people or fewer. The idea behind this rule is that as teams grow, the number of links between people increases, leading to more communication issues, tasks to delegate, and interests to consider, making it difficult to manage the team effectively. To implement this rule, Bezos suggests promoting and developing new leaders, delegating effectively, and coaching and developing these new leaders to help the team grow.

• Make high quality descisions early in the day:

  • In order to optimize his mental and emotional state for effective decision-making. Bezos aligns his sleep patterns with his work schedule, ensuring he gets at least 8 hours of sleep to maintain good energy levels and mood throughout the day. He schedules his most mentally challenging meetings for 10 am, before lunch, when he feels his thoughts are the most organized and he is less susceptible to decision fatigue. By making high-quality decisions early in the day, Bezos avoids the negative effects of procrastination and decision fatigue that occur as the day progresses and mental energy declines.

  •   Leadership Confidence: Bezos is indeed a confident person, but most importantly, a confident leader who knows how to guide his employees and subordinates. He always starts his meetings with words that would let everyone pay attention no matter how distracted they are, and he continues to explain his visions and plans in a unique way, instead of just listing them casually.  For example, Jason Fried, the co-founder of Basecamp, reported in one of the meetings with Bezos that he gave an interesting statement that got everyone's attention; "People who are right a lot change their minds often."

References 

Connors, C.D. (2020, November 6). What Jeff Bezos Can Teach Us about Success and Innovation. Medium, ILLUMINATION-Curated. https://medium.com/illumination-curated/what-jeff-bezos-can-teach-us-about-success-and-innovation-26a9b565be8e

Galef, J. (2021, June 3). There Are 2 Types of Confidence. Here's the One That Jeff Bezos Has-and Why People Judge You on It the Most. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/03/the-type-of-confidence-jeff-bezos-has-and-why-it-makes-you-more-likable.html

Jeff Bezos' leadership style at Amazon. Topic Insights. (2021, October 5). Retrieved March 5, 2023, from https://topicinsights.com/leadership-management/jeff-bezos-leadership/

Lighthouse. (n.d.). Jeff Bezos' Leadership Style [Blog post]. https://getlighthouse.com/blog/jeff-bezos-leadership-style/

Lollydaskal. (2018, August 19). This Is How Leaders Improve Their Self Confidence - Lolly Daskal: Leadership. Lolly Daskal. https://www.lollydaskal.com/leadership/this-is-how-leaders-improve-their-self-confidence/#:~:text=Self%2Dconfidence%20is%20an%20essential,their%20personal%20and%20professional%20goals.

StudySmarter. Jeff Bezos Leadership Style. https://www.studysmarter.us/explanations/business-studies/business-case-studies/jeff-bezos-leadership-style/

Z., G. (2022, March 15). Task Relevant Maturity (TRM) - the Search for Success. Hostinger Blog. https://www.hostinger.com/blog/task-relevant-maturity#:~:text=What%20Is%20Task%20Relevant%20Maturity%3F%20Task%20Relevant%20Maturity,readiness%20to%20take%20responsibility%20and%20achieve%20amazing%20results.