Arslan Ahmad

June 26th, 2025

Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles – Behavioral Interview Guide

Learn Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles with real examples and sample behavioral questions. Prepare for your Amazon behavioral interview with confidence.

This guide breaks down Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles and explains why they’re crucial for anyone interviewing (especially for software or tech roles) at Amazon. Read on to understand each principle in simple terms and get some practical tips to ace those behavioral interview questions.

If you’re aiming for a tech role at Amazon, we all know the competition is fierce.

Amazon expects strong coding and system skills, but that’s only half the battle.

So, what's the other half, you might ask?

Well, that's where you need to learn about Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles.

Almost every Amazon interview is grounded in its 16 Leadership Principles – the values “at the heart of every Amazon interview, no matter what role you’re applying for”.

In fact, Amazon itself says it uses these principles “every day” in discussions and problem-solving, calling them one of the things that makes Amazon “peculiar”.

And as a candidate, understanding these Leadership Principles is crucial to standing out in the Amazon's hiring process.

Even if you ace your technical screen, failing to demonstrate these leadership qualities can cost you the job.

In fact, many candidates lose out on an offer just by being underprepared for leadership principles questions.

So, now you know it's serious.

That’s why we’ll walk you through each principle with real examples and tips – so that you can confidently share your stories in the behavioral round.

(To organize your prep, remember to use the STAR method – Situation, Task, Action, Result – to structure answers. In other words, pick a specific example from your experience, explain the context and goal, detail what you did, and highlight the outcome.)

Glossary

LP is shorthand for Leadership Principle.
SDE is shorthand for Software Development Engineer, which typically refers to back end engineers within Amazon.
FEE is shorthand for Front End Engineer, which typically refers to full stack and/or dev-ops engineers within Amazon.
L1, L2, and L3 are shorthand for level 1, level 2, and level 3.
- Juniors are level 1: SDE1 and FEE1.
- Mid-level engineers are level 2: SDE2 and FEE2.
- Seniors are level 3: SDE3 and FEE3.
Amazon Bar Raiser: An Amazon Bar Raiser is a specially trained, neutral interviewer who ensures that every new hire meets or exceeds the company’s high hiring standards, safeguarding Amazon’s culture and leadership principles.
STAR Method: The STAR method is a structured approach to answering behavioral questions by outlining the Situation, Task, Action, and Result of a specific experience.

Now, let’s quickly go over the 16 Amazon Leadership Principles one by one:

The 16 Amazon Leadership Principles

Customer Obsession: Always start with the customer’s needs and work backwards.
Ownership: Act like an owner of the company, not just your job.
Invent and Simplify: Encourage innovation and simplify complexity.
Are Right, A Lot: Use good judgment and seek diverse perspectives.
Learn and Be Curious: Never stop learning. Be eager to explore new possibilities and improve your skills.
Hire and Develop the Best: Raise the bar with every hire and promotion. Identify talent and help people grow, whether by mentoring or coaching.
Insist on the Highest Standards: Maintain high quality in everything you do.
Think Big: Don’t be limited by small thinking.
Bias for Action: Value speed and decisive action.
Frugality: Accomplish more with less.
Earn Trust: Listen attentively, speak candidly, and act with integrity.
Dive Deep: Be hands-on and detail-oriented.
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit: Politely challenge decisions when you disagree, even if it’s uncomfortable.
Deliver Results: Focus on key inputs and deliver them on time and with quality.
Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer: Work to make Amazon a safer, more diverse, and more fun place to work.
Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility: Use Amazon’s size for good.

In your answers, highlight which principle you’re demonstrating and focus on what you did and the result.

This was just an introduction.

Now, let's discuss each one of these in detail.

1. 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.

How to remember this principle: Focus on customers' needs and work to exceed their expectations.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to prioritize customer needs, and develop products and solutions that address them.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Focusing on internal processes or individual preferences instead of the customer's perspective.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you went above and beyond for a customer.
Tell us about a project where you had to change direction based on customer feedback.
How have you used customer insights to improve a product or service?
Give an example of when you had to make a trade-off between customer satisfaction and project constraints.
Describe a situation where you resolved a customer complaint.

2. 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. They never say “that’s not my job.”

How to remember this principle: Take responsibility for your work, think long-term, and act on behalf of the entire company.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to take initiative, be accountable, and make decisions that benefit the organization.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Shifting blame, focusing on short-term gains, or having a narrow perspective.

Sample Questions

Tell us about a time when you took ownership of a project and its outcome.
Describe a situation where you made a decision that had long-term benefits for your team or company.
How have you acted as an owner in your previous roles?
Give an example of when you took responsibility for a mistake and turned it into a learning opportunity.
Tell us about a time when you proactively identified and addressed a problem that was not your responsibility.

Learn how to prepare for an Amazon system design mock interview.

3. 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.” As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.

How to remember this principle: Encourage innovation, look for new ideas, and simplify complex processes.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to think creatively, challenge the status quo, and streamline processes.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Resisting change, getting stuck in traditional ways of thinking, or complicating solutions.

Sample Questions

Describe a situation where you invented a new solution to a problem.
Tell us about a time when you simplified a complex process.
How have you fostered innovation within your team?
Give an example of when you challenged conventional wisdom and found a better solution.
Describe an innovative idea you proposed and how you implemented it.

4. 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.

How to remember this principle: Make informed decisions, seek diverse perspectives, and maintain high standards.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to make sound judgments, learn from mistakes, and be open to feedback.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Being overly confident, inflexible, or unwilling to learn from mistakes.

Sample Questions

Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision that turned out to be correct.
Describe a situation where you sought multiple perspectives before making a decision.
How do you ensure your decisions are well-informed and accurate?
Give an example of when you admitted to being wrong and learned from it.
Tell us about a time when you had to make a decision with limited information.

5. 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.

How to remember this principle: Continuously learn, seek new knowledge, and be open to new ideas.

What this principle is evaluating: Your commitment to personal and professional growth, curiosity, and adaptability.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Becoming complacent, stagnant, or resistant to learning new things.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you learned a new skill or technology to solve a problem.
Tell us about a situation where your curiosity led to a positive outcome.
How do you stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies?
Give an example of when you had to adapt to a significant change in your work environment.
Describe a project where you had to learn something new quickly to meet a deadline.

Check out the FAANG behavioral interview guide.

6. 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. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

How to remember this principle: Recruit top talent, mentor team members, and foster a culture of growth.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to identify, hire, and develop high-performing individuals.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Settling for average performers or neglecting team development.

Sample Questions

Tell us about a time when you hired a high-performing employee and how you identified their potential.
Describe a situation where you mentored or coached a team member to improve their performance.
How do you foster a culture of growth and development within your team?
Give an example of when you had to let go of an underperforming team member.
Tell us about a time when you helped a team member advance their career.

7. Insist on the Highest Standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

How to remember this principle: Set high expectations, drive quality, and continuously raise the bar.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to maintain high standards, identify areas for improvement, and push for excellence.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Accepting mediocrity or failing to challenge yourself and others.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you set high standards for a project and how it impacted the outcome.
Tell us about a situation where you identified a quality issue and took steps to correct it.
How do you ensure your team maintains high standards?
Give an example of when you had to push for excellence in the face of obstacles.
Describe a time when you raised the bar for your team or organization.

Learn how to craft behavioral interview stories.

8. 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.

How to remember this principle: Embrace bold ideas, create long-term visions, and focus on high-impact projects.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to envision the future, take calculated risks, and drive ambitious projects.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Focusing on short-term wins or small-scale improvements.

Sample Questions

Tell us about a time when you pursued a bold idea that led to significant success.
Describe a long-term vision you developed and how it influenced your team's direction.
How do you prioritize high-impact projects and initiatives?
Give an example of when you took a calculated risk that paid off.
Describe a situation where you had to convince others to think big and embrace a bold vision.

9. Bias for Action

Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

How to remember this principle: Make timely decisions, take calculated risks, and avoid analysis paralysis.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to act decisively, prioritize effectively, and manage uncertainty.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Procrastination, indecision, or being overly cautious.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you had to make a quick decision with limited information.
Tell us about a situation where you took action to resolve a problem before it escalated.
How do you balance speed and thoroughness when making decisions?
Give an example of when you took a calculated risk to achieve a goal.
Describe a time when you had to prioritize tasks to meet tight deadlines.

10. 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.

How to remember this principle: Accomplish more with less, optimize resources, and find creative ways to save money.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to maximize resources, identify cost-saving opportunities, and maintain financial discipline.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Wasteful spending, over-reliance on costly solutions, or failing to prioritize resource optimization.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you found a cost-effective solution to a problem.
Tell us about a situation where you optimized resources to achieve better results.
How do you ensure your team operates efficiently and within budget?
Give an example of when you identified a cost-saving opportunity and implemented it.
Describe a project where you had to accomplish more with less.

Learn about the soft skills you need for tech interviews.

11. Earn Trust

Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.

How to remember this principle: Build strong relationships, communicate openly, and demonstrate integrity.
What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to gain trust, collaborate effectively, and show respect for others.
What pitfalls you should avoid: Dishonesty, lack of transparency, or failing to treat others with respect.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you earned the trust of a colleague or team member.
Tell us about a situation where you had to repair a damaged professional relationship.
How do you ensure open and honest communication within your team?
Give an example of when you demonstrated integrity in a difficult situation.
Describe a time when you showed empathy and understanding towards a colleague.

Learn everything about FAANG behavioral interviews.

12. Dive Deep

Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.

How to remember this principle: Understand the details, ask probing questions, and maintain a hands-on approach.
What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to analyze complex issues, identify root causes, and stay connected to the details.
What pitfalls you should avoid: Overlooking important details, superficial analysis, or being detached from the work.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you conducted a deep dive analysis to solve a problem.
Tell us about a situation where your attention to detail led to a positive outcome.
How do you ensure you stay connected to the details while managing a team?
Give an example of when you identified the root cause of a complex issue.
Describe a project where you had to balance diving deep with delegating tasks.

13. Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.

How to remember this principle: Voice your opinion, challenge decisions, but commit to the team's decision once it's made.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to assert your viewpoint, accept disagreement, and support team decisions.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Being overly passive, confrontational, or failing to commit after a decision is made.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you disagreed with a decision and voiced your concerns.
Tell us about a situation where you had to commit to a decision you initially disagreed with.
How do you handle disagreements within your team?
Give an example of when you constructively challenged a colleague's idea.
Describe a time when you had to balance advocating for your ideas with supporting the team's consensus.

Check out 14 Most Popular Amazon Coding Interview Questions.

14. 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.

How to remember this principle: Focus on outcomes, overcome obstacles, and drive projects to completion.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to set goals, execute effectively, and deliver high-quality results.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Focusing on activities rather than outcomes or failing to meet commitments.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you delivered a significant result under challenging circumstances.
Tell us about a project where you successfully managed multiple priorities to meet deadlines.
How do you ensure your team stays focused on delivering results?
Give an example of when you overcame obstacles to achieve a project goal.
Describe a time when you had to adjust your approach to deliver results on time and within budget.

15. Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer

Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what’s next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

How to remember this principle: Create an inclusive and diverse work environment, invest in employee development, and prioritize employee well-being.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to foster a supportive, inclusive, and high-performing work culture.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Neglecting employee development, failing to promote diversity and inclusion, or overlooking employee well-being.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you took action to promote diversity and inclusion within your team.
Tell us about a situation where you prioritized employee well-being.
How do you create a supportive and inclusive work environment for your team?
Give an example of when you invested in the development of a team member.
Describe a time when you had to balance team performance with employee well-being.

16. Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility

We started in a garage, but we’re not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.

How to remember this principle: Be responsible for the impact of your actions, consider long-term consequences, and work towards a sustainable future.

What this principle is evaluating: Your ability to consider the wider implications of your work and make responsible decisions.

What pitfalls you should avoid: Ignoring the broader impact of your actions or prioritizing short-term gains over long-term responsibility.

Sample Questions

Describe a time when you made a decision that took into account the broader implications for your company or industry.
Tell us about a situation where you considered the long-term consequences of a project or decision.
How do you ensure your team's actions align with the company's broader responsibilities?
Give an example of when you advocated for a sustainable solution or practice.
Describe a time when you had to balance immediate success with long-term responsibility.

Check out the common behavioral interview questions.

Conclusion

Mastering Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles is just as important as acing the coding round—especially for tech roles.

These principles help interviewers assess how you think, act, and lead in real-world situations.

By using the STAR method for preparing strong stories for each principle, you can definitely stand out in the behavioral interview.

To build strong skills, explore Grokking Modern Behavioral Interview and prepare for behavioral interview stress-free.

FAQs - Amazon Leadership Principles

Q1. What are Amazon’s Leadership Principles and why are they important?

Amazon’s Leadership Principles are 16 core values that guide every decision at the company. They range from Customer Obsession and Ownership to Deliver Results and Think Big. Amazon weaves these into all interviews because they want to ensure hires fit the company culture and ways of working. Essentially, showing you understand and live these principles is key to proving you’re a good Amazonian.

Q2. How should I prepare for Amazon’s leadership principles questions?

First, know all 16 principles by name and main idea – understanding them is “crucial” for standing out in Amazon’s hiring process. Then, prepare specific stories from your experience that illustrate each principle. Structure your answers using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result). Practice tailoring one example to multiple principles (“flex stories”) since interviewers often expect you to talk about several principles in different ways.

Q3. Can I use examples from personal projects or school?

Yes – interviewers care about behaviors, not necessarily that the experience was at work. If a personal or school project shows you demonstrating a principle (like inventing a solution or taking ownership of a team task), it’s valid. Just be clear and concrete about what you did, and relate it back to the principle. Remember, the key is telling your story that highlights the leadership quality.

Q4. Are these principles only for managers, or do they apply to engineers too?

They apply to everyone at Amazon, from junior engineers to senior leaders. Amazon’s own site says employees “use our Leadership Principles every day… whether we’re discussing ideas for new projects or deciding on the best way to solve a problem”. So as a software or tech candidate, you’ll be expected to demonstrate these same principles – just with examples relevant to your work (like project work, coding tasks, or team collaboration).

Q5. What if I don’t have experience in a certain area?

If you lack a direct example, focus on transferable skills or a similar scenario. For instance, if you’ve never managed a budget (Frugality), you could talk about optimizing your time or open-source resources. It’s better to be honest and then pivot to how you’d approach it. Showing a learning mindset is part of Learn and Be Curious – you can say what you would do, or talk about how you learned from not having done something.

Q6. Do interviewers ask about all 16 principles?

Not necessarily all in one interview, but usually several. Interview panels often assign 2–3 principles to each interviewer. Over multiple rounds, you should expect questions covering most of the key principles, especially common ones like Customer Obsession, Ownership, Bias for Action, etc. That’s why preparing a broad set of stories is recommended.

Q7. What is the STAR method?

The STAR method is a way to answer behavioral questions by structuring your response into four parts: Situation (context), Task (your goal), Action (what you did), and Result (outcome). This ensures your answers are clear and focused on your contribution. Using STAR helps you hit on what Amazon interviewers want: concrete examples that demonstrate the principle in action.

Q8. Will knowing these principles really help in a tech interview?

Absolutely. Even for software or dev roles, Amazon’s interview process tests for culture fit and leadership qualities, not just coding. The DesignGurus guide specifically advises SDE candidates to “provide specific examples from your experience that demonstrate each of the Leadership Principles”. In practice, showing that you live these principles can set you apart as a candidate who will thrive at Amazon, not just someone who can write code.

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