Leadership Style of Jeff Bezos and its Impact on Amazon

This report highlights upon one of the most renowned leaders of present day, Jeff Bezos, and his leadership skills, style of leadership as well as his tremendous contribution to the great project that is “Amazon”. The report throws light upon Bezos’s leadership journey which is an inspiration and a journey reflective of immense hard work, strategy, innovation and consistent persistence.

Project leadership
Jeff Bezos

Executive Summary
Leadership is the lynchpin upon which the entire organization rests. An effective leader is
bestowed upon with critical responsibilities in the business including motivating employees,
guiding them, setting clear goals for the team, having a strong vision as well as possessing the
capacity to fulfil that vision in an effective manner (Cheema, Akram & Javed, 2015). This report
highlights upon one of the most renowned leaders of present day. This leader is best known as
the owner and founder of Ecommerce behemoth Amazon Inc. The report throws light upon
Bezos’s leadership skills, style of leadership as well as his tremendous contribution to the great
project that is “Amazon”. His leadership journey is an inspiration and a journey reflective of
immense hard work, strategy, innovation and consistent persistence.

Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Biography of Jeff Bezos..................................................................................................................3
Style of leadership...........................................................................................................................3
Effectiveness of the leadership behaviour displayed.......................................................................3
Impact of leadership on the project.................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

Biography of Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos was born to a teenage mother in the year 1964. He had always been a bright kid. It
was four years after Jeff’s birth that his mother remarried a Cuban immigrant (Forbes, 2018).
Jeff was brought up in New Mexico and depicted an immense interest in computers. Bezos
studied engineering in the field of computer science from Princeton University. He graduated as
a valedictorian of his school. After completing his graduation, he worked with The Wall Street.
He was also appointed as the youngest senior vice president of D. E. Shaw.
In the year 1994, Jeff decided to quit his job in order to materialize his dream of opening an
online book store. The name of the store was Amazon.com. Amazon’s office was started by
Bezos and a few friends in his garage which later expanded to a two bedroom space.
Style of leadership
Jeff Bezos is one of the finest leaders of the present times. Bezos has adopted a transformational
leadership strategy in his approach. A transformational leader aims to identify loopholes in the
current status quo and works towards creating a transformation for the better. The aim of a
transformational leader is to bring about a valuable and positive change (Nguyen, Mia, Winata &
Chong, 2017).
As a leader, Bezos adopts a democratic leadership style. A democratic leader is participative in
nature and aims to create an open communication system in the workplace. Jeff Bezos highlights
the importance of openness in communication within the organization. A participative leadership
fosters innovation and creativity and enhances employee growth (Alimuddin & Sukoco, 2017).
As a leader, Bezos encourages his team to take risks. He strongly believes that any organization
or individual cannot grow without taking risks. This form of leadership enhances the risk
appetite of employees as well as assists in fostering creativity within the firm (Renko et. al.,
2015).
Effectiveness of the leadership behaviour displayed
The success story of Jeff Bezos is evidenced by the grandeur that is Amazon Inc. Jeff Bezos is an
example of exceptional leadership skills depicted by any leader in the current times. Bezos

adopts a democratic leadership style. This style tends to encourage employees in the business to
participate in the decision making process. Owing to this attitude, Amazon Inc. depicts a high
rate of employee retention. This is because of the fact that consistent participation in decision
making enhances the sense of ownership of the employees towards the business (Jussila et. al.,
2015).
One of the most essential attributes of an effective leader is the ability of the leader to take risks.
Bezos has always depicted a high risk appetite which has led to the continuous growth of
Amazon Inc. At present, Amazon is a global name with loyal customers across the globe.
Amazon Inc. ventured into several countries with little knowledge and succeeded. The customer
base as well as consumer buying patterns observed in Asia and Australia were highly different.
Even then, Amazon Inc. as a team took those challenges head on and established itself as a
strong brand. The ability to take calculated and strategic risks by Jeff Bezos as well as his
consistent encouragement to his team members is one the pivotal factors behind the success and
growth of Amazon Inc.
Amazon employees depict high levels of work place motivation. The ability to motivate team
members is an essential ability of being a leader (Miner, 2015). It is important to note that not
just employees within Amazon but people across the globe have been motivated by Jeff Bezos
through his speeches, blogs and books. This indeed is a sign of a true leader.
Last month, Amazon was listed as one of the few companies with a valuation of over $1 trillion.
This mammoth valuation clearly depicts the effectiveness of Jeff Bezos as a leader. Amazon’s
success is credited to the consistent hard work, efficacy of business strategy and excellent
entrepreneurial abilities of Bezos.
Within the Ecommerce industry, Amazon is renowned for the large array of products sold by the
brand. It is considered as the one stop shop for all the needs of an individual. The wide range of
products offered by the brand are yet unmatched by any of its competitors. This was the dream of
Jeff Bezos to create a platform which offers easy access to all customer needs. An effective
leader is the one who can determine clear goals and ensure their efficient accomplishment (Ong
& Kam, 2015).

Today, Amazon continues to be one of the most innovative organization that has changed the
shape of the Ecommerce industry. This continued innovation is the result of Jeff Bezos’s ability
to foster creativity and innovation through every facet of the organization.
Impact of leadership on the project
Considering the growth of Amazon Inc. from Bezos’s garage to a one trillion dollar organization,
the impact of Jeff Bezos’s leadership is exemplary in every manner. Bezos depicted immense
risk taking ability while he quit and job and started the operations of Amazon in his garage. This
risk appetite of him continued to assist all the stakeholders of the organization in their growth
and development.
Eventually, Amazon book store grew its customer base. Amazon was the first book store to offer
over a million books under a single platform. This depicts the man’s ability to dream big and
excel. The company went public in less than two years of its establishment. Such strong steps are
a clear sign of how Jeff Bezos leads by example. A leader must always lead by example in order
to garner the trust and respect of team members (Brown, 2018).
During the dot com bubble, Jeff Bezos was named “Man of the year” by Time. A leader must
possess the ability to be prepared for challenging times and face these challenges head on
(Clinton, 2018). Bezos was prepared for the change and Amazon was one of the few
organizations that survived the test of time during the phase where all the other IT driven
companies went bust.
By 2000, Amazon moved from an online bookstore to the “everything store”. Amazon’s logo
during this time was creatively design which shows an arrow moving from A to Z. In the period
between 2000 and 2006, Amazon acquired several businesses like ToysRUs. Such strategic
moved by Jeff Bezos depicted his excellent strategy towards the growth of the business. All the
moved by Amazon were well planned and even better executed.
Even today, Amazon continues to innovate and strives to offer excellent services to customers.
From Prime delivery to drone delivery, Amazon has paved a long way for other players in the
Ecommerce industry to follow. All of this has been possible owing to the vision of Jeff Bezos.
Over a period of time, Amazon has become a solid brand not just in terms of an online platform

which enables people to buy things but also as a brand with a large range of products under its
own brand name. Amazon’s Echo and Alexa is the organization’s first step towards artificial
intelligence. Amazon’s Kindle has changed the reading style adopted by people. Not just that,
Amazon sells clothes, shoes, bags and electronics under its own brand.
The impact of Jeff Bezos’s leadership can be depicted throughout the scheme of Amazon’s
growth. The entire life cycle of Amazon until today is evidence of excellence in leadership and
epitome of entrepreneurial skills.
Conclusion
Leadership is the backbone over which an organization rests. It is one of the most essential
pillars for the growth and development of any organization. There are several leaders across the
globe who have changed the shape of organizations throughout the world. This report throws
light upon the exemplary leadership of Jeff Bezos who is the owner and founder of Amazon Inc.
The leader has demonstrated excellent abilities to motivate people, foster innovation among the
team members and instilled a sense of ownership towards the brand. His ability to take risks and
strategically plan the way ahead has paved a way for others within the industry to follow. Today,
Amazon is a household name and it has all been possible owing to the one dream that Bezos saw
in his own garage back in 1994.

References
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