Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career
Taking control of your career | Ethan Evans (Amazon)
Episode guests
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- Ownership and taking responsibility for mistakes is crucial for personal and professional growth.
- Consistent communication and prioritization during a crisis help rebuild trust and minimize micromanagement.
- Acting fast to rectify mistakes and involving experts to find solutions is essential in overcoming challenges.
Deep dives
Lessons learned from failing Jeff Bezos
One of the main lessons learned from this story is owning up to mistakes and taking full responsibility. Instead of deflecting or making excuses, the speaker acknowledged the problem and took ownership of it.
The importance of communication and prioritization
The speaker demonstrated the significance of consistent communication and prioritization during a crisis. Keeping all stakeholders informed about the progress and next steps helped rebuild trust and minimize micromanagement.
Acting quickly and working hard to fix the problem
When faced with a mistake, it is crucial to act fast and work diligently to rectify the issue. The speaker's team worked tirelessly to fix the problem and involved experts to find solutions.
Overcoming imposter syndrome and embracing resilience
The speaker's ability to overcome imposter syndrome and continue to perform despite a major mistake is a crucial lesson. Accepting failure as a learning opportunity and maintaining confidence in one's abilities can lead to future success.
The Power of Ownership and Decision-Making
Ethan shares a story from his career where he learns the importance of ownership and decision-making. During a meeting with his boss and Jeff Wilke, Ethan realizes the significance of taking responsibility for his actions and the impact they have on the company's reputation. He emphasizes the importance of being aware of the consequences of one's decisions and the need to prioritize date over perfection. Through this experience, Ethan learns that mistakes are inevitable, but it is crucial to take ownership, learn from them, and move forward with confidence.
Challenging the Return to Office Movement
Ethan expresses his contrarian viewpoint about the return to office movement. As many leaders advocate for a full-time return to the office, Ethan questions the necessity of traditional office spaces. He highlights the potential for innovation in remote work, emphasizing that offices have seen little improvement over the years, while remote work offers opportunities for growth and exploration. Ethan believes that long-term, remote work will surpass the traditional office setup. He also discusses his belief in building trust and doing business on faith, challenging the prevailing mindset of contract-driven interactions.
Ethan Evans is a writer, career coach, course instructor, and retired VP at Amazon. During his 15 years at Amazon, he helped invent Prime Video, Amazon Video, the Amazon Appstore, Prime Gaming (formerly Twitch Prime), and Twitch Commerce. Prior to Amazon, Ethan spent 12 years in technical leadership roles at several East Coast startups. He writes a newsletter, Level Up, which publishes candid career advice and has a growing community of ambitious professionals to connect with. Ethan also offers a range of Leadership Development Courses via live online classes and on-demand courses. In this episode, we discuss:
• The Magic Loop framework: a five-step process to grow your career
• A handful of reasons why people get stuck in their career growth
• Advice on how to break out of a career plateau
• How to cultivate inventiveness in your work
• How to stand out in interviews
• A personal story of failing Jeff Bezos and lessons learned
• Contrarian opinions on the return-to-office movement and doing business on a handshake
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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/taking-control-of-your-career-ethan
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Where to find Ethan Evans:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/
• Substack: https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Ethan’s background
(04:25) The Magic Loop
(08:31) The goal of the Magic Loop
(10:59) Clarifications on the framework
(12:46) Success stories
(17:22) The importance and effectiveness of the Magic Loop
(19:01) A quick summary of the steps in the Magic Loop
(21:46) What if you’re not pursuing a promotion?
(23:09) How to break out of a career plateau
(28:52) How to become systematically inventive
(36:04) Interview advice and how to stand out
(40:43) A story of failing Jeff Bezos
(50:31) Lessons learned from that failure
(57:30) What Ethan would have done differently
(01:00:35) Amazon’s leadership principles
(01:08:52) Contrarian corner: Returning to the office vs. staying remote
(01:10:39) Contrarian corner: Doing business on a handshake
(01:11:52) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• The Magic Loop: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-magic-loop
• SDE levels: https://www.masaischool.com/blog/understanding-sde-levels-sde-1-vs-sde-2-vs-sde-3-differences/
• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful: https://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-There/dp/1401301304
• Thomas Edison’s quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/thomas_a_edison_109928
• Jeff Bezos: Amazon and Blue Origin | Lex Fridman Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWqzZ3I2cY
• Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of-working-bill-carr-author-of-working-backwards/
• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595
• Jeff Wilke on X: https://twitter.com/jeffawilke
• Andy Jassy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-jassy-8b1615/
• Werner Vogels on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wernervogels/
• Amazon’s Silk browser explained: https://www.androidpolice.com/amazon-silk-browser-explainer/
• Chickens and pigs: https://www.scrum.org/resources/chickens-and-pigs
• 58% of tech employees experience imposter syndrome. Here’s how to overcome it: https://medium.com/wearefutureworks/58-of-tech-employees-experience-imposter-syndrome-heres-how-to-overcome-it-78172d8a2258
• Jeff Bezos to exec after product totally flopped: ‘You can’t, for one minute, feel bad’: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/22/jeff-bezos-why-you-cant-feel-bad-about-failure.html
• Amazon’s leadership principles: https://www.amazon.jobs/content/en/our-workplace/leadership-principles
• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama
• Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work: https://www.amazon.com/Decisive-Make-Better-Choices-Life/dp/0307956393
• Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Self-Deception-Getting-Out-Box/dp/1523097809
• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness: https://www.amazon.com/Almanack-Naval-Ravikant-Wealth-Happiness/dp/1544514212/
• Angel list: https://venture.angellist.com/naval/syndicate
• Naval Ravikant on X: https://twitter.com/naval
• 1923 on Paramount+: https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/1923/
• Yellowstone on Paramount+: https://www.paramountnetwork.com/shows/yellowstone
• Chuckit! dog toys: https://www.chuckit-toys.co.uk/
• Luke 12:48: https://law.utk.edu/2016/05/10/to-whom-much-is-given-much-will-be-required
• The Challenger space shuttle disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster
• Ethan’s popular course on Maven: https://maven.com/ethan-evans/break-through-to-executive
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
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