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1 | Amazon Leadership Principles Interview Cheat Sheet | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | This is a Hustle Badger template. Get more practical how-to guides, templates and case studies HERE. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | This interview guide is heavily indebted to Day 1 Careers. Check out their Amazon Interview Tool pack here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | How to use this sheet: make a copy for your private use & edit there - so that others can continue to use this master | ||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Other resources - read the guide to Understanding Amazon's Leadership Principles here | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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7 | Amazon leadership principle | Behavioural definition | Dos | Don'ts | Possible questions | ||||||||||||||||||
8 | 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. | Make reviewing anecdotal customer feedback data, such as ratings and reviews, and customer service tickets, part of your routine. | Assume that the customer is always right. The customer has needs, the customer can't always identify the best solution to those needs. | Tell me about a project you worked on and how you collected feedback from customers. What did your customers say? How did you drive innovation using this feedback? | Have you worked on a project which wasn't something customers explicitly told you that they wanted, but something you discovered that could improve customer experience? How did you figure out that they might need this? What were the signals and were you right? | Most of us at one time have felt frustrated or impatient when dealing with customers. Can you tell me about a time when you felt this way and how you dealt with it? | When do you think it’s ok to push back or say no to an unreasonable customer request? | In your opinion, what is the most effective way to evaluate the quality of your product or service to your internal or external customer base? Give an example of when you used these measures to make a decision and walk me through your process for doing so. | Tell me about a time where you put the customer first, regardless of what peers or higher management directed. What was the outcome? How did this impact day to day interaction with your peers or management? | |||||||||||||
9 | 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.” | Take responsibility. Where something is broken, or needs to be resolved, alert people to the issue and if no one takes action, take action yourself | Blame others for failures. 'I couldn't do xyz because of...'. Find ways to work round constraints and anticipate them in advance. | Tell me about a project where you made a hard decision that impacted short term objectives but was good for long-term value. Talk me through the implications | Give me two examples of things that you did that required you to step up and formally take on more responsibility because no one else was taking the initiative. Explain why it was necessary, what you learned and what the impact was. | Give me an example of where your project failed and how you communicated about that failure to your team plus product owners and stakeholders. | Give an example of when you felt a team or individual goal was in conflict with the company vision. What did you do? | What steps do you take to ensure projects you complete get transitioned effectively to new owners? | How do you ensure that your team remains connected to the company vision and the bigger picture? | |||||||||||||
10 | 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. | Think big picture. Challenge yourself about constraints. Think about times you found elegant, innovative solutions to real problems that confronted you | Talk about ways you added extra process steps or people to solve problems. This isn't innovative or simplifying. Also don't assume it has to be a big invention - the idea is to demonstrate how you think. | Walk me through an example of an existing process that you improved and how. | Tell me about a time where you invented something | Tell me about a time where you made something simpler and neater. | Tell me about a creative idea you had that was difficult to implement. What was the idea and why was it so hard to implement? | Tell me about the most innovative project you've done. Why did you think it was innovative? | How did you change the direction or view of a specific function or department, helping them embrace a new way of thinking? Why was a change needed? | |||||||||||||
11 | 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. | Share how you used your judgement and experience to solve disagreements and move teams past a consensus opinion by focusing on core principles. Share how you gathered information from others, and what changed your mind. | Think that leaders are right a lot because they are right first time. They are often right, but they're also open minded and tenacious in pursuit of the right solution - and by continuously working with others to find it, they are ultimately right, a lot. | Tell me about a situation when you didn't have all the required data, but you had to make a decision. Walk me through what happened. | Can you think of a time you made a significant wrong decision in the workplace? What was the impact of the decision? What did you learn? | Can you tell me about a time where you made a difficult decision with inputs from multiple people. What was the process you followed and what was the outcome? | Tell me about an error in judgement you made in the last year. What was it, what was the impact and what did you learn from it? | Tell me about a business model decision / key technology decision / or other important strategic decision you had to make in the last year for which there wasn't sufficient data or benchmarks. How did you make the call? | ||||||||||||||
12 | 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. | Come in with a beginner mindset - what do I not know about this? What quesitons might I ask as a total beginner? Is this a learning opportunity and how can I self direct my learning / seek resources to know more? Where should I add to my skills and where should I listen to experts? | Avoid challenging yourself. Do you have the right answer? Do you know what you don't know? How can you listen to and learn from others? Can answers to domain specific problems come from techniques, principles or thinking from outside that specific domain? | Tell me about a project you've worked on where you didn't know (or didn’t know enough about) about the subject matter. How did you tackle the project, and what was the outcome? | What's the best thing you've learned on your own that you've been able to apply in your day to day work to do your job better? | Tell me about a time where someone asked you to look at a problem from a different angle, what you learned from it and what the outcome was | Tell me about a time where the answer to a problem came to you in an unexpected way. | Tell me about a recent book that you read and what you learned from it. | Tell me about a time you took on work outside of your comfort area and found it rewarding | |||||||||||||
13 | 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. | Consistently and dispassionately evaluate your team and whether you could go faster or execute better with different profiles or skill sets. | Hang on to your top performers to the detriment of their development or opportunities. Don't hire people in case it hurts others' feelings or assume that there's no way for your team to perform better. | Tell me about a time that you coached a team member to success (variations: coaching a remote team member to success) | Tell me about how you dealt with a poor performing member of your team: walk me through the timeline and the steps you took | Tell me about a time when you hired someone precisely because they had skills you didn’t. How did you coach them and how did you support their development? | Tell me about one of the best hires you ever made | Tell me about a time that someone got promoted in the organisation because of the coaching or other time investment you made in them. | Tell me about a time you provided feedback to a member of your team to either strengthen a weakness or develop their strengths. What was the outcome? Which coaching methods did you find effective? | |||||||||||||
14 | 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. | Constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve - don't accept current constraints, and don't adopt a 'good enough' mentality | Insist on perfect - high standards can be future-proofed and good enough for now, rather than a perfect monolith: high standards can be iterative | Tell me about a time where you implemented something, and had to make a trade off between speed and quality. How did you make the decision and what was the impact? | Tell me about a time where you encountered a process which wasn't working well. What did you do to fix it and what was the outcome? | Describe the most significant continuous improvement project you've ever led. What was the catalyst for this change and how did you go about it? | Tell me about a time you worked to improve the performance of a tool or service which was already getting good customer feedback. What did you do and why did you think it needed to be better? | Tell me about a time that you looked at a key process that was working well and questioned whether it was still the right one. What assumptions were you questioning and why? Did you end up making a change to the process? | Give an example of a time where you refused to compromise your standards around quality or customer service. Why did you feel so strongly? What was the outcome? | |||||||||||||
15 | 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. | Think what you could do if you could go above and beyond: what's the most radical solution you can think of? | Accept existing constraints or paradigms of thinking. Ask yourself if you're asking the right questions. It's easy to get stuck in details and miss the wood for the trees. | Tell me about a time when you worked on something but saw a much bigger possibility than the initial goal. How did you discover the opportunity? Did you take it, and why? | Tell me about a time where you established a vision for a team when there wasn't one. How did you ensure buy in? What was the outcome? | Tell me about a time where you took a big risk in a calculated manner. What was the risk, why did you do it and what was the impact? | Tell me about a time where you encouraged a team member to take a risk? How did you balance the risk against existing business goals? What was the outcome? | How do you drive adoption for your vision and ideas? How do you know if your vision has been adopted by other teams or peers? | Give me an example of a radical approach to a big problem you proposed. What was the problem and why did you feel it required a completely innovative approach? Did you succeed? If so, what was the impact of the idea? | |||||||||||||
16 | Bias for Action | Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking. | Move fast when you can and avoid 'analysis paralysis'. Do mitigate risks where it makes sense to do so | Don't forget to assess what type of decision you're making. All reversible decisions can be taken fast and delegated. But irreversible or big decisions have to be deeply analysed. Don't mix up decision types. | Tell me about a time when you had to trade off between “action now” and “gathering more info,”. How did you make the decision? What was the outcome? If a manager, how did you unblock your team? | Give me an example where you had a tight schedule, couldn’t gather all the information and had to make an educated guess | Tell me about a time you had to make a quick judgment call without consulting your manager. How did you evaluate it and what was the outcome? | Tell me about a time when you were faced with a challenge where the best way forward or strategy to adopt was not clear: i.e. there were various different paths you could have pursued, and the best course of action was ambiguous. How did you decide the best way forward? | Tell me about a time where you felt your team was not moving to action quickly enough. What was the situation? What did you do and what was the outcome? Is there anything you would change? | Give me an example of a calculated risk that you took where speed was critical. What was the situation and how did you handle it? Did you take any steps to mitigate the risk? What was the outcome? | |||||||||||||
17 | 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. | Factor opportunity cost into your calculations, and try to think in terms of future assets which increase overall company value, rather than simple revenue / cost today terms. | Don't have 'more resources' as your default response. But equally well don't never ask for anything: you should be frugal as a default, but think in terms of long term cost benefit analysis to understand if you're in a situation where more cost makes sense. | Tell me about a time you created organisational or customer value either by increasing revenue streams or lowering cost. | Tell me about a time you requested additional funding or budget to complete a project. Why was it needed? Did you try to figure out another approach? Did you get the additional resources? If so why, and if not why not? | Tell me about a project you completed with limited means by using a creative solution that saved resources. | Give me an example of a time when you challenged your team to come up with a more efficient solution or process. What drove the request? How did you help them? What were some of your biggest challenges? What were the results? | Describe a time when you improved a process with a limited budget. How did you weigh up your options? What was the result? | ||||||||||||||
18 | 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. | Do be respectful and reflective in terms of evaluating the actions and responses of yourself and others. Make sure you're paying attention to what people are saying and engaging with differing opinions. Don't become entrenched or silo'ed. | Don't shy away from tough conversations, or truth seeking, but do remember to be respectful. Evaluate yourself as openly and critically as you do others. | Tell me about a piece of direct feedback you recently gave a colleague. How did they respond? | Tell me about a time where you needed the support of a peer but they didn't give it. How did you win them over? | Tell me about a time where you had to communicate a big change in direction about which you knew people would have concerns. How did you structure and deliver the news? How did you answer questions? Did you encounter any resistance, and if so, how did you deal with it? Were you able to get people comfortable with the change? | Describe a time that you significantly improved morale and productivity on your team. How did you go about doing it? What were the underlying problems or causes? How did you ensure they didn't impact the team in the future? | Give me an example of a time that you weren't able to meet a commitment you had made to a team member. Why was it the case, and what was the commitment? How did you communicate it? What did you learn from the experience? | Tell me about a time that you uncovered a significant problem in your team. What was it and how did you communicate it to your manager and other stakeholders? | |||||||||||||
19 | 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. | Do demonstrate unpredictable dive deep behaviour - times when you investigate topics outside of a cadence so that your team aren't managing your expectations. | Don't be afraid to get into the weeds when necessary. Show that you are hands on and comfortable and adept with detail with concrete examples. | Walk me through a big problem in your organisation that you helped to solve. How did you become aware of it? What information did you gather, what was missing and how did you fill in the gaps? Did you do a retro and what did you learn? | Tell me about a situation where it took you asking 'why?' over five times to get to the root cause of what was going on. | Tell me about a time that there was a problem in your team, and you had to go down several layers to fix it. Who did you talk to and which information proved most valuable? Did you get the right information and were you able to fix it? | Tell me about a problem you had to solve that required in depth thought and analysis. How did you know you were focusing on the right things? | Can you tell me about a specific metric you've used to identify a need for change in your department? Did you create the metric or was it readily available? How did this and other information influence the change? | ||||||||||||||
20 | 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. | Do feel comfortable with respectfully chasing down the right outcome or answer for the business. Don't put social cohesion above the right answer. | When you commit, commit. Don't undermine the decision, say I told you so, or go backwards. The team is now committed to delivering results. | When do you decide to go along with the consensus decision even if you disagree? How do you behave after deciding to go along with it? | Describe a situation where you thought you were right but your peers or supervisor didn't agree. Did you persuade them you were right and if so how? Were you right? | Give me an example of a time where the business gained something because you persisted for a period of time. What was it, why did you feel strongly about it and what did you do? | Give me an example of when you took an unpopular stance in a meeting with peers and your leader, where you were the outlier. What was it, why did you feel strongly about it and what did you do? | Give me an example of a time you chose to acquiesce to the group even when you disagreed. Would you make the same decision now? | ||||||||||||||
21 | 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. | Plan properly, scope properly, deliver what you say you will deliver. But don't descope as a result; results have to be impressive. | Undermine customer experience, or optimise to short term goals (like delivering XYZ OKR) over long term value. This principle has to be balanced with the others. | Tell me about a time that you not only met your goals but exceeded them | Tell me about a time that you went beyond the scope of a project that was delivered | Describe a time that you had to face a challenging situation while working on a project. What did you do to overcome it? | Tell me about a time when you didn't think you were going to deliver what you had committed to. How did you identify the risk? When and how did you communicate it to stakeholders? What was the outcome? | Finding the right balance between achievable and challenging goals for teams can be tough. Tell me about a time when you hit the right balance. How did you approach setting the goals? What was the outcome? | Tell me about a time when you had to leave a task unfinished. | |||||||||||||
22 | 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. | Be cognisant of the different experiences and challenges faced by those around you. | Don't be afraid to respectfully advocate for change within the company | Tell me about a time that you felt someone was being treated unfairly. Were you able to help? | Tell me about a time when you spoke up for or acted on behalf of someone less senior or influential than you. Why did you decide to do it and what was the result? | Tell me about a time you took part in efforts to make your work environment feel more inclusive. Why did you need to do it and which actions did you take? | Describe a time where you advocated successfully for a change to make working at your employer better for you and your colleagues. Why did you think it was needed and what was the outcome? | Tell me about a time where you showed empathy for a peer or someone in your team. How did you realise they were in a difficult situation and how did you act to help? | Tell me about a time where you created an environment where your team felt able to speak freely about anything. How did you create the environment, which actions did you take, and what were the results? | |||||||||||||
23 | 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. | Do be cognisant of Amazon's global scale and impact, especially when it comes to climate and social responsibility. | Don't focus on business success to the detriment of the environment around you. | Tell me about a time you decided to change your approach or plans because you realised your chosen course of action would result in negative consequences outside of the business that you had failed to consider. | Tell me about a time where you considered the impact of your work on everyone interacting with your business, rather than just your customer or client. | Tell me about a time when you seriously considered the social responsibility element of your project / decision before moving forward. Why was it important to consider and what was the impact of changing to that mode of thinking? | Tell me about a time when you considered the environmental impact of a certain course of action | Tell me about a time when you considered the societal impact of a certain course of action | Tell me about a time that you left something in better shape than when you found it. | |||||||||||||
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