Amazon Leadership Principles

Amazon’s behavioral interviews (called “Bar Raiser” rounds among others) are structured almost entirely around 16 Leadership Principles (LPs). Every question you’re asked is silently mapped to one or more LPs, and your interviewer is scoring you against that specific principle — not just “was this a good story.”

Analogy: The LPs are less a checklist and more a set of lenses. The same story about shipping a feature under a deadline can be scored against Deliver Results, Ownership, or Customer Obsession depending on what the interviewer chooses to probe.

The 16 Principles

Principle	What it’s really probing for
Customer Obsession	Do you start from the customer and work backward, even against internal pressure?
Ownership	Do you act like an owner beyond your narrow job scope — fix things nobody assigned you?
Invent and Simplify	Do you find non-obvious solutions and remove unnecessary complexity?
Are Right, A Lot	Do you have strong, evidence-based judgment, and can you defend it under pushback?
Learn and Be Curious	Do you proactively grow your skills, not just react to gaps when forced?
Hire and Develop the Best	Do you invest in growing others’ careers, not just your own output?
Insist on the Highest Standards	Do you hold a bar higher than what’s minimally asked, and raise that bar for others?
Think Big	Do you propose ambitious solutions, not just safe incremental ones?
Bias for Action	Can you decide and act under uncertainty rather than waiting for perfect information?
Frugality	Can you accomplish more with less through resourcefulness, not just smaller scope?
Earn Trust	Do you listen, admit mistakes, and treat others with respect — even without prior relationship?
Dive Deep	Do you verify with primary data rather than accepting a surface explanation?
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit	Can you voice disagreement respectfully, then commit fully once a decision is made?
Deliver Results	Do you hit the outcome despite setbacks, with the right prioritization, not just effort?
Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer	Do you make the environment better for the people around you?
Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility	Do you consider second-order effects of decisions at scale — fairness, safety, environment?

How the Mapping Works

flowchart TB
    Q["Interview question:<br/>'Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager'"] --> LP1["Have Backbone;<br/>Disagree and Commit"]
    Q --> LP2["Are Right, A Lot<br/>(if judgment was vindicated)"]
    Q --> LP3["Earn Trust<br/>(if relationship repair matters)"]

    style Q fill:#7c3aed,color:#fff
    style LP1 fill:#059669,color:#fff
    style LP2 fill:#3b82f6,color:#fff
    style LP3 fill:#f59e0b,color:#fff

One story can be scored against multiple LPs depending on which details the interviewer probes with follow-ups. This is exactly why the Story Bank lets you tag one story with multiple categories — a single “botched release” story might cover failure, delivery/deadlines, conflict, and growth/feedback all at once.

Preparing Against LPs, Not Just Questions

Rather than memorizing answers to specific questions, build stories that clearly demonstrate 2-3 LPs each, so you can flex the same story to whichever principle the interviewer is probing:

Pick a real story with genuine stakes.
Ask: which 2-3 LPs does this actually demonstrate?
In the Action section, make sure the details that prove those specific LPs are explicit, not implied.
Cross-check against the Question Bank — filter by “Amazon (LP)” company style to see real questions mapped to each principle with rubrics and sample answers.

In Simple Words

Amazon behavioral questions are silently scored against one or more of 16 Leadership Principles
The same story can demonstrate multiple LPs depending on what’s probed
Prepare stories that map to principles, not memorized answers to specific questions
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit and Ownership come up especially often — make sure at least one story nails each