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Lead

Glossary​

Team - 3 or more people

Servant Leadership - an approach in which the team works without distractions

Points of Leadership​

We all want to improve the processes in our company/team. For this, we all need good leaders.

Fairness​

For every person on the team to feel good, fairness must be present. It is very difficult for one person to implement the concept of fairness. What can a leader provide in this context? - Assess the situation: whether it is fair or not.

The inevitability of Reward, The Inescapability of Punishment​

Every player should know that if they do something good, they will be rewarded. This reward doesn't necessarily have to be monetary. The leader should provide rewards using the resources they have: words, mentions, and posts in common channels expressing gratitude or words of respect. On the other hand, the leader should not be a barrier between the team and the external world. They should not shield the team from all impacts while taking all the hits themselves. Each person should understand that they are fully responsible for their decisions and actions. The leader's task is to manage this: some people need to be told about their mistakes with pressure, some need to be approached and told, "You did everything well, but...," some need a full explanation of the consequences, and for some, it's better not to mention them. The key is to keep in mind that certain wording may irritate one person but be acceptable to another.

Patience, Authority, Evidence​

You should never (with very rare exceptions) start abruptly and radically changing or building processes. This is associated with many factors. First, it's people's mentality. Most people are not accustomed to change in their lives. It may sound harsh, but it's true. People are afraid of changes. People are skeptical about changes. People find it difficult and lazy to change and reshape their thinking. Therefore, bursting into an office and waving a chess piece while saying, "Everything is bad now, I know how to make it better, and we are starting a new path," is not acceptable. Be patient. How can you understand when it's time to implement new practices? It's very simple. This time comes when there is authority in the team. What am I talking about? You need to understand that if you were given a leadership position, manager role, or CTO role, it doesn't mean you are an authority figure for the team. No, that's not enough. Authority is assigned and accepted in different ways within different teams. If you are the leader of a development team, you need to demonstrate your technical skills, show that you can act in difficult and tense situations, and show that you know what you're dealing with. Only after that will people start to listen to you and take your words seriously. Okay, you have achieved that your team listens to you. The job is almost done. But to completely overcome the resistance to change, you need evidence. Evidence that if they agree with you and follow you, something will become better. For this, you need to demonstrate your analytical, oratory, and presentation skills. Create "bad meters"! Show through statistics, diagrams, and charts that things are not going well now. It's even better if you can show that with the current approach, things will be much harder in the future. And only after that, provide a comparative analysis of what you offer.

Willingness to Put the Skin in the Game​

You must show the team through all your actions that you are playing the same game. If the rules of the game change, everyone, including you, should play by those rules. What am I talking about? Let me explain with a quick example: if you are implementing a merge request policy in the company, you should not directly push commits to the master branch yourself.

Customer Obsession​

Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

Ownership​

Leaders are owners. They think long term and don't sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that's not my job.”

Invent and Simplify​

Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here.” As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.

Are Right, A Lot​

Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

Learn and Be Curious​

Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

Hire and Develop the Best​

Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

Insist on the Highest Standards​

Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

Think Big​

Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

Bias for Action​

Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

Frugality​

Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.

Earn Trust​

Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.

Dive Deep​

Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit​

Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.

Deliver Results​

Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

Strive to be Earth's Best Employer​

Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what's next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees' personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility​

We started in a garage, but we're not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.