Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says sucking up to your boss won’t earn their trust

Want to earn the trust of your boss and peers? Sucking up to them won’t do the trick, says Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.

“They sometimes confuse it with meaning being nice to one another or having social cohesion or not challenging each other in meetings,” the 58-year-old Amazon veteran said in a company YouTube video: “I won’t challenge you if you don’t challenge me or this person isn’t trustworthy because they challenged me in a group of people.” It’s a skill, he says, people often get “wrong.”

Out of all of the tech giant’s 16 leadership principles penned by its founder Jeff Bezos, having a foundation of trust between leaders and staff is key to psychological safety, effective collaboration, and innovation. It’s also the culture that has just helped Amazon overtake Walmart on revenue, positioning it to rank No. 1 on the next Fortune 500 list for the first time in 13 years.

It’s why trust starts with being genuine—even if that means serving your boss some hard truths or owning up to your own mistakes.

“What we mean by earn trust is being honest, authentic, straightforward, listening intently, but challenging respectfully if you disagree,” Jassy said.

“If you think we’re doing something wrong for customers of the business, speak up,” he added. “If you own something and it’s not going well, own it.”

And it’s a two-way street: Leaders who want to gain the trust of their team should get comfortable with being “vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing,” Jassy insisted.

But beware of being all talk 

Speaking up in meetings is crucial for........

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