Leadership Insight from Amazon

With Steve Jobs no longer with us, a lot of people are talking about Jeff Bezos from Amazon as the best CEO out there. This interview points out the six things that they knew in 1997 that have made their results so amazing today.

1. When you have a window of opportunity, go for the jugular -- even if you have to exhaust  a huge number of resources.
2. Think long-term meaning five to seven years, not five to seven months.
3. Long-term market share is more important than short-term profits because without long-term market share there will be no long-term profits.
4. It’s okay to make mistakes, but it’s not okay to be timid.
5. Obsess over customers.
6. Be first in a big market.

I have always believed in building a business that's a "long-term play." What that means is doing things right, even if it hurts short-term profitability, so that our business is solid down the road.

Bezos has done an excellent job explaining the logic behind the need for a long-term vision. He said it well when he said, "At Amazon we like things to work in five to seven years. We’re willing to plant seeds, let them grow -- and we’re very stubborn. We say we’re stubborn on vision and flexible on details."

I couldn't have said it any better.