Boots to Amazon: Beyond the Box Leadership Observations

Sir, you wrote a great article on leadership but it’s hard to square leadership up with how it is practiced at Amazon. I conducted an interview there and did not observe the things you mentioned but it was only for a few hours. I did not see leadership in action with an area manager constantly walking around holding a computer that pushes out hourly SKUs that associates must pick, pull, them put on a conveyor. Some of the working conditions that were on the warehouse floor would have been an IG complaint for any Soldier working in a SSA. I witnessed leadership via data not through motivation. Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization (ADP 6-22). Lastly, the turn over % at Amazon was more than any Army Battalion could accept. With the # of personal quitting and the onboarding of new hires there is an extraordinary amount of time loss in the replacement of personnel. But in the final analysis you are correct - Amazon gets the job done better than anyone and for now there is no shortage of Amazonians willing to move that box.

Thanks for sharing