I’ve been watching creative agencies struggle with the same leadership challenges for years. Talent retention. Creative quality. Client satisfaction. The usual suspects.
Meanwhile, Amazon built a $2 trillion empire using leadership principles that most creatives would dismiss as corporate bullshit.
While independent shops close their doors and boutique agencies burn through cash trying to compete with tech giants, there’s something worth stealing from the winners.
Here’s the thing though. Those principles work. They just need translation.
Customer Obsession Becomes Audience Empathy
Amazon’s customer obsession translates perfectly to creative work, but with a crucial shift. Instead of focusing solely on client needs, successful creative leaders develop deep empathy for the end audience.
This means understanding emotional triggers, cultural context, and behavioral patterns that drive engagement. Creative work drives 49% of ROI when it connects authentically with audiences.
The practical application? Every creative brief should include audience empathy exercises, not just demographic data.
The local agencies that survive understand this instinctively. They’re curating experiences with zero margin because they actually give a shit about the work.
Ownership Becomes Creative Stewardship
Amazon’s ownership principle pushes individual accountability. In creative environments, this becomes stewardship of the creative vision while respecting collaborative input.
Creative stewardship means taking personal responsibility for craft quality while remaining open to feedback and iteration. It balances individual creative vision with team dynamics.
The result is work that maintains artistic integrity while serving strategic objectives.
Hire and Develop Becomes Nurture Diverse Voices
Amazon focuses on hiring and developing the best talent. Creative agencies need to nurture diverse creative voices instead of standardizing performance metrics.
85% of agencies experience high talent scarcity, making individualized development approaches critical for retention.
This means recognizing that creative excellence comes in different forms. Some creatives thrive on tight deadlines, others need space for exploration. Some excel at concept development, others at execution refinement.
Think Big Becomes Envision Beyond Boundaries
Amazon’s “Think Big” principle encourages breakthrough thinking. For creative agencies, this becomes envisioning work that transcends current limitations while remaining strategically relevant.
This principle supports the creative tension between ambitious concepts and practical constraints. It encourages teams to push creative boundaries while maintaining connection to measurable outcomes.
The key is balancing visionary thinking with executable strategies.
The Integration Challenge
The real insight here is that structure enhances creativity rather than constraining it. Amazon’s principles provide a framework for managing the productive tension that drives innovative work.
Creative professionals need clarity around expectations, development paths, and success metrics. They also need freedom to experiment and iterate within those frameworks.
The agencies that figure out this balance will solve the talent crisis while delivering work that drives real business results.
Corporate principles aren’t the enemy of creativity. Poor implementation is.
Amazon’s Leadership Principles Reference
For readers who want the full context of what we’re adapting from
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
Insist on the Highest Standards: Leaders have relentlessly high standards that many people may think are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes.
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.
Bias for Action: Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
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.
Earn Trust: Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing.
Dive Deep: Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ.
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit: Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious.
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.
Note that there are two additional leadership principles: “Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer” & “Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility.” We plan on figuring out how those apply to us once we figure out how to get as big as Amazon (never gonna happen).
The leadership principles in Andy Jassy’s own words: https://amazon.jobs/content/en/our-workplace/leadership-principles
This is also a good page with interesting reads on the topic.
