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  • Hi there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com,

  • and in this tutorial, I'm going to teach you how to pass an Amazon Leadership Principles

  • interview. If you have any kind of manager or leader interview coming up with Amazon,

  • please do stick around and watch this tutorial, because I promise it will make a huge difference

  • to your preparation and your performance at the interview. As you and I know, Amazon has

  • these brilliant 14 leadership principles, and these principles are designed to keep

  • Amazon at the top of its game. And if you're going to be employed as a manager or a leader,

  • then you have to be able to demonstrate them both at the interview and also in your work.

  • So we need to assess WHY they are so important, and I will also give you a number of Amazon

  • Leadership Principles Interview Questions and Answers throughout this presentation.

  • Before I do that, a very warm welcome to this interview training tutorial. My name is Richard

  • McMunn. That's me there in the center of the screen. I am a former Fire Officer and founder

  • of the interview training website PassMyInterview.com, and I've been helping people for 20 years

  • now to successfully pass their interviews. I always do that by giving you TOP SCORING

  • ANSWERS to the interview, questions that you can't find anywhere else. Please do make sure

  • you SUBSCRIBE to the channel by clicking the red button below the video, and then you won't

  • miss out on any of the weekly training videos I'm uploading. You can also connect with me

  • on LinkedIn.com if you want to. My LinkedIn.com link is in the description below the video.

  • I would also very, very much appreciate your support if you gave the video a LIKEthank

  • you very much! That tells me you enjoy the content and I will then create more for you.

  • What are these Amazon Leadership Principles? The 14 Amazon Leadership Principles, and why

  • are they so important? For the next couple of minutes, I want to spend a bit of time

  • going through these, tell you what they are and also, how you are likely to be assessed

  • to get them against them at the interview. We will then move on to the interview questions

  • and answers. The first Amazon leadership principle I want to look at is CUSTOMER OBSESSION. One

  • of the reasons why Amazon is such a brilliant company, one of the best organizations in

  • the world, and it has been for many years, is because it obsesses about the customer.

  • So the #1 most important person in Amazon is the customer. And everyone who works in

  • Amazon always focuses on the customer at all times. My advice, and this is an important

  • tip, is in preparation for your Amazon interview, is to make sure that you have a couple of

  • examples of when you have been able to show how you've gone above and beyond for a customer

  • or a client in a previous role. So the question might be posed in this way. They might say

  • Can you give two examples of when you have gone above and beyond what was required in

  • regard to customer service or client service?” OK, so think of two examples in preparation

  • for your interview. The next one is about EARN TRUST. You have to be able to treat everyone

  • you work with respect. And that's people you work with in Amazon, and also external stakeholders.

  • Because if you do treat people with respect, you'll be able to do better business. The

  • next one is HIRING & DEVELOPING THE BEST people. Leaders in Amazon move forward and they improve

  • with every person they hire. The next one is about THINK BIG. The next Amazon leadership

  • principle. So you should have big ambitions and always go out of the way for the customer.

  • What I mean by that is, Amazon is always delivering great customer service, but it is always doing

  • different things. So, for example, it was responsible for introducing the Kindle, which

  • transformed the way that customers read. They have been responsible for improving delivery

  • service, so that customers get their orders quicker. They are always thinking big and

  • focusing on the customer. The next Amazon leadership principle is BIAS FOR ACTION, which

  • is actually just getting things done! You have to be someone who gets things done and

  • is someone who takes action. Another Amazon leadership principle is that you ARE RIGHT,

  • A LOT of the time. So if you're going to be a leader, you have to have strong judgment

  • skills. You might get asked a question that goes along the lines… “Can you tell me

  • about a time when you had to make a difficult decision with limited information?” The

  • next Amazon leadership principle is INSISTING ON THE HIGHEST STANDARDS at all times. You

  • should be able to demonstrate that you can work to high standards, always. You need to

  • show that you are somebody who is professional and wants to achieve the highest standards

  • with everything you do in your work. Another Amazon leadership principle is DIVE DEEP.

  • So, you have to be able to look into things deeply and analyze information that you have

  • available. This is one of my favorite Amazon leadership principles, and that's of TAKE

  • OWNERSHIP. You have to be able to take ownership of situations and be responsible and accountable.

  • And another really important tip I want to share with you is, never, any stage during

  • your responses to the Amazon interview questions, say it was somebody else's fault. Don't say

  • that. You could say… “I was working as part of a team and somebody made a mistake,

  • but we took ownership of that collectively together we learned from it and we put things

  • right.” Don't ever blame somebody and single them out for making a mistake. It's the team's

  • mistake. The organization’s mistake. And you have to put things right. That's the important

  • thing. And on top of that, you have to be able to learn and develop. LEARN AND BE CURIOUS

  • is another Amazon leadership principle. You have to be able to improve, develop and also

  • ask questions. You could get asked an interview question during your Amazon interview that

  • goes along the lines of: “Can you tell me about a time when you learned something new

  • that was outside of your comfort zone?” So that's a question I would prepare for.

  • FRUGALITY is achieving more with less. Keep your eye on the finances! HAVE BACKBONE AND

  • DISAGREE. Can you give an example of a time when you had a disagreement with a work colleague

  • or a manager? It's good to have disagreements and to challenge people, but you do it in

  • a professional manner and then you have to move on with an agreed course of action. The

  • next Amazon leadership principle is INVENT AND SIMPLIFY. You have to be able to lead

  • teams that innovate and come up with different ideas. And then finally, DELIVER RESULTS.

  • That's the final Amazon leadership principle. Are you someone who can deliver results, get

  • things done in a timely manner? When have you achieved a task, a difficult task, within

  • strict time constraints? That's the 14 Amazon Leadership Principles. My advice, in preparation

  • for your Amazon interview, is to learn them. You don't have to learn the words in the brackets,

  • but be prepared for a question that goes along the lines of: “What are the Amazon leadership

  • principles, and tell me all 14 of them?” Let's now take a look at some sample interview

  • questions and answers for your Amazon Leadership Principles interview. I'm going to go through

  • these in detail. I'll give you a sample question based on what I think will come up during

  • your interview, and I will then give you a sample answer to that interview question.

  • You can either pause the video as I go along, or if you want to wait, I will tell you where

  • you can download my full set of 22 Amazon Leadership Principles Interview Questions

  • & High Scoring Answers! The first question that we want to look at is: tell me about

  • a time when you had to make a quick decision that was going to have a significant impact

  • on the organization? Here is my suggested answer. “I was managing a project for a

  • very important client with a small group of people from different departments across the

  • organization. We literally only had 10 days left before the project had to be completed,

  • when the client contacted me with an urgent project specification change request. The

  • changes they were asking for would have a significant impact on the team’s ability

  • to complete the project on time, and it would also eat into our project budget. I had very

  • little time to make a decision, and so I decided to agree to the changes, primarily because

  • two of our core values were flexibility and customer focus. The client had been with us

  • for a long time, and I saw their business as valuable for the future health of the organization.

  • Although we ended up making very little money from that project due to the unexpected specification

  • change request, the client was very happy with the results and they went on to spend

  • significant amounts of money with us in the future due to the strong relationship we had

  • built up with them.” That is a very strong answer! What I like about it is, it is in

  • depthand my advice is to give plenty of detail about how you demonstrate those Amazon

  • leadership principles. You are showing them that you can make a decision. We have little

  • time available and it is to the benefit of the organization. The next Amazon leadership

  • principle interview question we want to prepare for is: Describe a situation when you had

  • to work with incomplete data or information? This is a challenging interview question,

  • and here's my suggested answer. “I was working on an internal project for my previous employer

  • that required me to work closely with another member of staff from a different department.

  • We had been working very well together for the duration of the project, and we both had

  • different skillsets and qualities that helped the project move forward nicely. However,

  • towards the end of the project, I received a call from my work colleagues manager saying

  • that she had been taken ill, and that I would need to finish the project on my own. The

  • only way for me to complete the project would be to use the limited information I had available,

  • which my colleague had previously passed on to me before she went off sick. In the evenings,

  • after work, I carried out lots of research to find out how to complete the elements of

  • the project my work colleague had been responsible for. I ended up taking an online course, and

  • I also went online to a couple of technical chat forums to ask for advice and information

  • for the elements of the project I was struggling with. I am pleased to say that, after many

  • nights additional work, and also by using the limited information my colleague had given

  • to me, I was able to put the remaining pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in place and complete

  • the project on time and to the correct standards.” That is showing that you can use incomplete

  • information and data. You can then take ownership of the situation. You are resourceful, because

  • you're finding different ways to sort things out. And then you complete that project on

  • your own. That is being a completer finish, and somebody who DELIVERS RESULTS. Now, I

  • still have some questions to go through, so please don't go anywhere. But, when you're

  • ready, if you want to CLICK THAT LINK in the top right hand corner of the video, it takes

  • you through to my website, PassMyInterview.com, where you can download my full set of 22 Amazon

  • Leadership Principles interview questions and top scoring answers! OK. But do stick

  • around. I have still got some more to run through. But like you say, when you're ready,

  • if you click that link, you can download a copy of those. The cost is only $7.99, which

  • is nothing. It's a very small investment if you want to prepare fully for your Amazon

  • Leadership Interview. The next interview question is number three: Tell me about a time when

  • you had to take a calculated risk at work? Here is my suggested answer. “In a previous

  • job, I had not been there that long when I was offered a promotion. This came entirely

  • out of the blue, and whilst I am very ambitious and enthusiastic, I decided to turn it down.

  • The reason for me turning down the opportunity was based on the fact I genuinely wanted to

  • learn my new role to a high standard, so I could then help the organization and my team

  • develop. Although I feel I could have performed well within the promotion, I did not want

  • to risk my reputation and the performance of the company, especially as I had only been

  • there for a relatively short period of time. This was obviously a risk on my part, as I

  • may not have been offered the opportunity for promotion again. However, it proved to

  • be the right decision as my manager respected my choice, and I actually went on to be one

  • of the companies highest achievers.” That shows that you are putting the organization

  • first. You are not thinking about yourself, but you are able to take a calculated risk,

  • and it's proved to be the right one! The next Amazon leadership principle interview question

  • is: Tell me about a time when you found a simple solution to a complex problem? This

  • is a tough one. A real tough one. Here is my suggested answer. “I was in a meeting

  • in my previous job where the company’s sales figures were being discussed by the managers.

  • Although the sales figures were healthy, there was concern amongst the group that the profitability

  • was not as good as it should be, due to the marketing spend that was ongoing. At the end

  • of the meeting, I decided to try and find a solution to this problem. I met up with

  • the marketing team, and they explained to me the bulk of the marketing spend was going

  • on Facebook and social media adverts. After some investigative work, it became apparent

  • that the team were not using Facebooks tracking pixels that are designed to measure the performance

  • of the advertising spend. I quickly informed them of what I had found, and moving forward

  • from that day on, the organization was able to measure accurately the marketing return

  • on investment. This allowed us to cease adverts that were not giving us any return, which

  • in turn increased profitability.” That shows that you are again taking responsibility and

  • thinking on your feet. You are being smart, intelligent, and you are taking ownership

  • of a situation to sort it out, which is great! Let's have a look at some more Amazon Leadership

  • Principles interview questions. Don't forget, at any point, if you do want to skip over

  • to my website and download the full set, you can do. OK, here's some more questions. Tell

  • me how you would complete a project or task if you had limited time or resources? Tell

  • me about a time when you experienced conflict within a team? Give me two examples of when

  • you have gone above and beyond what was expected? Don't forget, that is the customer obsession

  • principle! Have you ever failed at work? If so, tell me what happened and how you reacted?

  • When have you have to overcome a challenging situation at work? When have you had a disagreement

  • at work, either with a work colleague or a manager? Give me a situation where you've

  • previously shown one of Amazon's leadership principles at work? Tell me about an unpopular

  • decision you had to make at work? Give me one thing you will like the most about being

  • a leader with Amazon, and one thing you will dislike? That's a tough one! Tell me a time

  • when you had to give bad news to a member of your team? Give me an example when you

  • led a team of people to achieve an organization's goal or objective? Tell me about a time when

  • you had to persuade someone to follow your course of action? When did you have to overcome

  • a difficult challenge at work? Give me an example at work where you improved how you

  • did something to achieve a better outcome? That's a common one that comes up! Tell me

  • about a time when you learned something new that was outside of your comfort zone? Tell

  • me about a time when you received criticism from a manager or a work colleague? How did

  • you react to the feedback? Tell me about a time when you analyzed information carefully

  • to overcome a challenging task or project? Tell me about a time when you had to make

  • an effective decision under pressure? If you would like the answers to all of those 22

  • questions that I've gone through, including the four that I run through previously, please

  • CLICK THE LINK in the top right hand corner of the video, and it goes through to this

  • website. You can have a look at those questions. I'll give you the answers, as I say. So I

  • talk about the leadership principles there, and I also give you 4 great tips! I recommend

  • you read those as well, because they will certainly help you. Don't forget, it's a small

  • investment, $7.99 to get all of the answers, my suggested answers to those Amazon Leadership

  • Principles Interview Questions. Thank you very much. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE and hit

  • the LIKE button. Like I say, that tells me you enjoy the content. And if you want to

  • connect to me on LinkedIn.com, please check out my link in the description below the video.

  • Thank you very much for supporting my channel. I do appreciate it. Have a brilliant day and

  • I wish you all the best for passing your Amazon Leadership Principles interview. Thank you

  • very much!

Hi there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com,

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