4 Personality Traits that made Jeff Bezos so successful
- Zoe Lim
- Jun 8, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 15, 2021
In the recent article by INC.COM, which I've included in the link below, the author shares the 11 lessons that every entrepreneur should pay attention to, if they desire to achieve a success as tremendous as what Jeff has achieved.
1. Use the regret minimization framework
2. Find the right opportunity
3. Be customer - obssessed
4. Make your value exceed all the costs
5. Fear customers, not competitors
6. Focus on the long term
7. Feed the flywheel
8. Hire for intensity
9. Protect your culture
10. Know what kind of decision you're making
11. Listen to your critics- but not too much
Jeff Bezos is a highly purpose driven individual. In this article, I shall attempt to identify some of Jeff's personality traits based on these 11 lessons he has taught us.
a. Risk-taker: At the beginning, no one would have known the extent of the impact that Internet will create. For someone to decide to jump right in to start an e-commerce business at that point of time would definitely require guts. There were no forerunners to learn from and I can imagine the bewildered looks he would get from bankers whenever he applied for loans. To minimize regret when he turns 80 would mean he would give every sound opportunity a try.
b. Objective: Jeff mentioned in the article that he wasn't particularly fond of books, but knew that it was the right way to start. His mind was set on what customers wanted and not what he wanted. Most businesses fail because of the lack of research into uncovering the needs of the market and simply embarking on a business that is based upon their own standards and passion. Jeff also received negative feedback with an open mind. If the feedback was accurate, he will listen and make changes. He was not affected by naysayers nor did he allow them to distract him.
c. Majors on what's really important: His focus on work culture, providing a sense of mission for employees, and obsession over customer satisfaction shows a man who is unfazed by minor things. In Jeff's world, every minute should be spent on providing compelling value to customers and not wasted on "information-dissemination" sort of meetings nor dwelling on decisions that can be reversed.
d. Patient: Jeff insisted that Amazon provided a superior customer experience that exceeded all the costs. To do that, you would need time to analyze the difficulties customers face, to pivot around the limitations of the infrastructure back then and make constant upgrades to the website and purchase processes so that it is seamless for the end user. I believe that unless you are patient and non-transactional, most would have been focused just on the profit margin for that quarter.
What really separates entrepreneurs, like Jeff Bezos, from the majority is their ability to be hyper focused on the end user, be extremely patient and see beyond monetary gains.
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