Welcome to the breakout business English podcast where I help you to communicate better at work in English.
Hi everyone. My name is Chris and I am a business English coach. Thank you so much for listening and for your time today and today's topic is leadership.
Specifically we're going to be exploring three of Amazon's leadership principles.
That's the big famous tech company Amazon and their principles, their ideas, their guiding theory for leadership.
In last week's episode we touched on Amazon's leadership principles.
I mentioned the idea that leaders in Amazon are expected to have a bias for action.
That is to say that they prefer to make quick decisions.
They prefer to try things out and see if they work, rather than spend a lot of time thinking about their choices.
I mentioned that there were 13 Amazon leadership principles in last week's episode and yeah I have to admit, I got that one wrong.
There are 16. Today I want to take a look at 3 of the most interesting ideas from this list and 3 ideas that i think can be applied to any role in order to improve anyone's performance and mindset at work.
these 16 ideas are all really useful in any industry so although we're doing three today if you like this kind of format and you like going through these principles then let me know and I can continue this into further episodes.
Let's start, however, with a quick piece of vocabulary.
Right at the beginning of this podcast, only a few seconds ago, I used the phrasal verb to touch on. To touch on. I said that, we touched on Amazon's leadership principles.
Do you know what I meant by this.
To touch on something is to briefly mention it, to talk about something but not to go into detail.
We might also say that I mentioned it in passing.
So that's your first piece of vocabulary for today, and with that said, let's get started!
Our first tip from this list is about ownership and Amazon describe it like this they say that 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.
They never say that's not my job.
So what do you think?
Does this sound like something that your managers encourage you to do?
I know that when I started working in IT in my mid 20s we were encouraged to take ownership over problems that we were assigned to fix.
Don't just finish a work and assume that everything will go well from there, check on it later.
Make sure that everything is working well.
If you need to delegate it to a colleague then ask them how it's going.
Let's take a look at some natural and native examples of people taking ownership of issues at work.
I know it's not in my scope, but I'm happy to chip in.
I know it's not in my scope, but I'm happy to chip in.
I really want to see this through to fruition so I'll check in with you next week.
I really want to see this through to fruition, so I'll check in with you next week.
I handed this off to Dave, but I asked him to keep me in the loop.
I handed this off to Dave, but I asked him to keep me in the loop.
Let's start today with the word fruition.
You heard this in the second example.
See this through to fruition.
The fruition of something is the completion of a plan or a project.
If you've been training for a marathon for the past year then maybe the fruition of your plan will be finally crossing that finish line.
You might notice that the word fruition which we spell f -r -u -i -t -i -o -n includes the word fruit, fruit.
There are lots of phrases in English that use the word fruit to talk about results and the product of your work.
We can ask for instance if a meeting was fruitful, if you had a fruitful meeting, or maybe we could ask if you think a sales call is going to bear fruit, it going to bear fruit?
Which means that you will, well if it's a sales call you'll successfully sell something.
So if something comes to fruition then we mean that it has finally finished and produced a result.
In the third example we heard the phrase in the loop, in the loop.
I said I asked him to keep me in the loop, i asked him to keep me in the loop.
A loop is another name for a shape that bends around and crosses itself again, like the two loops that are formed when you tie your shoelaces.
When we use this in a figurative and less literal way, we mean that we want someone to keep us about a particular issue.
I might tell you for instance that one of our colleagues is not in the loop meaning that they don't know what's happening.
There's also the phrase to loop someone in.
To loop someone in.
This is less common but it means to inform someone about the most recent changes with a situation.
So if you are in the loop and someone else is out of the loop then I might ask you to loop them in could you loop that person in before our next meeting meaning can you give them the most up -to -date information.
There is actually a really funny political movie about the relationship between the British and American governments called In the Loop, if you're looking for something to make you laugh.
In the Loop is a great movie but some of the dialogue might be a little challenging because it uses a lot of informal vocabulary and slang.
Also the characters are not very polite most of time.
It is a great movie though.
Before we move on from the idea of taking ownership over issues I should remind you that if you want to take ownership of your communication skills then maybe we can work together.
The Amazon leadership skills we're talking about today often come up in the English language, and communication coaching sessions that I offer.
My full time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills.
This is a combination of grammar and vocabulary help together with insightful and interesting discussions around leadership or whatever topics you want to improve your ability to communicate about.
So, if you need English to do your job, but don't speak it natively, then maybe we can work together to help you to achieve your language goals.
If you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one to one video calls, just you and me, then you can go to breakoutbusinessenglish .com.
That's the title of the podcast, BreakOutBusinessEnglish .com and find out more.
Also, I sometimes have offers and discounts on class packages and entering your email address on the website is the best way to be the first to find out when those limited time deals are available.
I've worked with over 1000 non -native English -speaking professionals from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders to help them achieve their goals and I look forward to meeting you.
Let's take a look now at another leadership principle and here we're going to talk about the first one on the list and that is customer obsession.
Customer obsession.
Let's hear how Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy describes it.
He says leaders start with the customer and work backwards.
They work vigorously to earn and keep trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors they obsess over customers.
So I should mention that you don't always need to be in a sales role to be thinking about customers.
Maybe you feel like the only people you serve are other employees in your company.
In that case you can definitely talk about internal customers.
maybe you work in IT support or in the HR department of your company and you spend all of your time trying to help other members of the staff do their jobs.
In that case you can definitely talk about internal customers.
Let's take a listen to some natural and native ways to talk about putting your customers first. I always try to put myself in our customers shoes when I'm planning things out.
I always try to put myself in our customers shoes when I'm planning things out.
I know that it seems like a good idea to us but try to see it through the customer's eyes.
I know that it seems like a good idea to us but try to see it through the customer's eyes.
If we roll out a product that's half baked, then it'll definitely come back to haunt us.
If we roll out a product that's half baked, then it'll definitely come back to haunt us.
Okay, let's start with that last example.
We had a couple of really fun phrases in there.
We heard half -baked and come back to haunt us.
So let's start with that first one.
If I ask you if you enjoy baking, then what am I talking about?
Well, I'm talking about making cakes and pastries.
If you go into a bakery then maybe you're buying bread or a nice dessert.
So, if something is half -baked, then you can imagine that it doesn't taste very good.
Maybe the texture is not quite right.
If we apply this to professional communication, then we get the idea that a plan, or a theory, maybe an idea, has not been carefully considered.
Maybe it's impractical or even a little stupid.
Definitely not something that we want to be accused of at work.
In that same example we had the phrase come back to haunt us.
Come back to haunt us.
Haunt is a really specific verb that we really only associate with one noun and that noun is ghosts.
Ghosts haunt people.
So just like someone from the past haunting you in the present causing problems and generally being pretty scary.
If something comes back to haunt you then a decision that you made in the past starts to cause you problems in the present.
I know that I made some pretty bad financial decisions in my early 20s.
They definitely came back to haunt me a few years later.
Fortunately I've sorted all of that out now though I'm sure they won't come back to haunt me again.
Next let's take two phrases together.
In the examples I said that we should see things through the customers eyes see things through the customer's eyes and put yourself in the in the customer's shoes.
These are both idioms that mean to try to understand something from someone's perspective.
In fact there are a lot of similar phrases that talk about how you look at something.
We can talk about your point of view, your standpoint, literally where you're standing when you look at something, your perspective, your viewpoint or to look at something from a certain angle.
All of these phrases talk about the way that you think about something and your specific personal opinions.
So when I am deciding every what I should talk about on this podcast. I try to put myself in your shoes.
I try to think about what topics you might want to hear about.
I try to see this podcast through your eyes, we could say, and if there's a topic that you'd specifically like to hear me discuss then please let me know.
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One of the leadership principles I find myself discussing most with the people I coach is the idea that leaders are right a lot.
Amazon put it this way.
They say leaders are right a lot.
They have strong judgment and good instincts.
They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.
There's a word in there that we need to talk about straight away, and this is to disconfirm.
To disconfirm. This is a less common word. It's actually quite rare.
I very rarely hear it in the real world.
But quite simply it means to try to prove that you are wrong.
To try and prove yourself wrong in this case.
If we think about the scientific method, the way that good science is done, researchers don't usually try to prove that they are right.
Instead they do everything that they can to prove that they are wrong and this is what tech giant Amazon wants its managers and staff to do.
Let's listen now to some natural and native sounding examples of how you could try to disconfirm your ideas in a meeting.
I'm convinced this is the right way to do this.
But if anyone thinks I'm going about this wrong then please let me know.
I'm convinced this is the right way to do this.
But if anyone thinks I'm going about this wrong, then please let me know.
I've been working on this idea all week, but I'm not sure it holds up to scrutiny.
What do you think? I've been working on this idea all week, but I'm not sure it holds up to scrutiny.
What do you think I need you to tell me where I'm going wrong here I can't see any problems with this idea but if there are any holes in it then we need to find them I need you to tell me where I'm going wrong here I can't see any problems with this idea but if there are any holes in it then we to find them.
how you go about something is how you do something.
another word for this might be your approach to something.
in the first example sentence we heard if anyone thinks I'm going about this wrong if anyone thinks I'm going about this wrong.
If I'm particularly impressed by the fact that you were able to fix a problem, then I might ask you, how did you go about fixing that?
How did you go about fixing that?
This means that I'm interested in how you did that.
I'm interested in how you achieved that goal.
If I want to suggest a different way of doing something then I might say that's not how I'd go about it.
Or maybe if I'm talking about the past I would have gone about it differently.
I would have gone about it differently.
In the second example we heard the phrasal verb to hold up, to hold up.
If a theory or an idea holds up then this means that even after it's been closely examined it's still true and still works.
In the second example you heard I'm not sure if this holds up to scrutiny I'm not sure if holds up to scrutiny.
That last word, scrutiny, is a really fun one to say.
I'm a big fan of words that are fun to say.
Usually German gets all the fun to say words, but this is a fun to say English word. I remember when I was a committee for scrutiny, their job was to carefully consider all of the decisions made by the leadership team and to ask them questions about these decisions, to make sure that the University Union was being run in the best way.
We can also use this word as an adjective to describe people who pay close attention to details and are very careful with their work.
We say that these people are very scrupulous, they're very scrupulous people, however this is generally considered very formal so not very often heard in general conversation.
Scrutiny. I still really like that word. So I think the main piece of vocabulary that I want to talk about in our third example is whole used in this context of course usually we're talking about holes in the ground or maybe holes in your clothes after you've had them for too many years in the example though we heard if there are any holes in it then we need to find them if there are any holes in it then we need to find them.
Just like a hole in the ground can be a problem especially if you fall into it, a hole in a plan or theory or idea is a flaw or a problem.
If you identify one hole in a plan then maybe it can be fixed.
However, if a plan is really bad then you might want to describe it as full of holes.
A bad plan could be full of holes.
This is quite informal however so I probably wouldn't put it in a formal report or piece of writing however saying it to your colleagues during a meeting would be a great way to use it.
And if the way that you are currently improving your English is full of holes then maybe I can help.
My full time job is helping international professionals who use English as a second language at work to improve their communication skills.
So if you need English to do your job, but don't it natively, then maybe we can work together to help you to achieve your language goals.
If you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one to one video calls, just you and me then you can go to BreakoutBusinessEnglish .com that's the title of the podcast BreakoutBusinessEnglish .com and find out more.
And of course, that link will be in the show notes wherever you're watching this or in the description if you're listening on YouTube.
Also, I sometimes have offers and discounts on packages of meetings, so you can pay for 5 or 10 or 20 at once and get a big discount.
And entering your email address on the website is the best way to be the first to find out when those limited -time deals are available.
I have worked with over 1 ,000 non -native English -speaking professionals from new graduates up to C -suite leaders, COOs, CEOs CEOs CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, every other see something oh that you can think of and even government leaders to help them achieve their goals and I look forward to meeting you.
That's everything for today.
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That is it for today.
Thank you so, so much for listening as always, and thank you for your time.
It really is valuable, and I really do appreciate you coming back every week.
And I'll talk to you next time on the Breakout Business English Podcast. Thanks a lot, everyone.
Talk to you soon.
