2 key LEADERSHIP ideas from Amazon's CEO - Business English vocabulary lesson

If you're a leader or need to talk about leadership at work in English, Amazon's leadership principles are a great place to start. If you use English at work, but you're not a native speaker then the vocabulary, phrases, and grammar is today's podcast will help you to talk about leadership and grow professionally. Today we're discussing the leadership themes of innovation and learning. We'll look at some formal, professional vocabulary, and some informal natural and native sounding words and phrases, as well as examples of how you can use these in real life.

Also, if you're studying for the IELTS, TOEFL, or Cambridge English tests and exams then you might find some of the vocabulary in this episode really useful.

Book a session with me: https://www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com

This podcast is all about helping you to communicate better, in English, at work. I work with international English speakers from around the world who use English, at work, as a second or third language and I hope that I can bring some of the ideas, vocabulary, and grammar, from those sessions, to you in this podcast.

Don’t forget that my full time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. 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. 

Book a session with me: https://www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com

Transcript

Welcome back. To the breakout business English podcast. Hi everyone, my name is Chris and I'm a Business English coach. I've worked with over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them. Improve their communication skills. Thank you so much for listening today and today's topic is... Is Leadership.So this is our third episode discussing Amazon's leadership principles and I think we're still only about halfway through their list. I did three on an episode a couple of weeks ago and I think I mentioned one on its own.So... If you're trying to grow as a leader or move into a leadership position for the first time, then becoming familiar with Amazon's leadership principles is a great place to start. In today's podcast, we're going to talk about two more of these ideas. And we'll hear some great vocabulary used by Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy. To talk about these concepts.So. Feel free to take notes and think about how you can start using these ideas and the vocabulary in the work that you do. Let's get started. Our first leadership principle today is to invent And... Simplify. To invent and simplify. Here is how Amazon describes it. They say that 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 you're not limited by Not Invented Here. As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood. For long periods of time.So this is the guiding principle that Amazon look for in their leaders when it comes to creating new things inside the company. Let's take a listen to some things you might hear at work from a manager who values invention and innovation in their team.The prototype is pretty good, but I think the next iteration has the potential to be really great. The prototyping. Is pretty good. But I think the next iteration has the potential to be really great. I like this idea, but I don't think this is the best implementation. I like this idea, but I don't think this is the best implementation. Our company has always been on the cutting edge of this industry. Our company has always been on the cutting edge. Of This industry. Okay, so let's get our vocabulary conversation started today. And our first piece of vocabulary is iteration. Iteration. In the first example, we heard "The next iteration has the potential to be really great." The next iteration has the potential to be really great. Iteration is a noun. But I want to start with the verb form. And that is to iterate. To iterate. Do iterate. Is to do something multiple times. You might have heard the word REITERATE. Re- iterate. Which basically means to say something. Again. Let me reiterate that. It basically means to say something again.So there we go. I've reiterated that for you. When we're talking about inventing new things or creating new products, then iterating on something. Means to create new versions of it that are slightly better each time.So, as I record this, I think Apple are on the iPhone 16. It's 2025. Are they still on the 16? That's 16 iterations of that product. Each one slightly better than the last. In fact, I think they've had a few more than that. I think we've had more than 16 models. Ciao! As you heard. An iteration is a new version of something. Or maybe a new model of something. In our second example, we heard the phrase Cutting. Edge. Cutting. Edge. As in, our company has always been on the cutting edge of this industry. We've always been on the cutting edge. This phrase began its life in the late 1970s in the United States of America. Before making its way over to British English in the mid-1980s. I think in order to understand the phrase cutting edge, we need to think of a technology or an industry, as a knife or a blade. If you look at A knife? Or hold it in your hand? You'll see that there's quite a lot of metal. However, Only a very small amount of that does. The cutting. A very small amount of that is the really important bit. A lot of industries are like this, especially technology-based industries.So, we describe something as "cutting edge" If it is the most exciting or advanced, innovative, part of an industry or technology. Now, there is a phrase that we use when cutting edge just isn't advanced or innovative enough, when we need to talk about something even more cutting edge than cutting edge. When we want to show that something is even newer, and really pushes the limits of what technology can do Then we use the phrase, Leading Edge. Bleeding edge. Yes, we've got knives and blood and this is starting to be a very scary set of phrases. But cutting edge is advanced technology, innovative technology. Bleeding edge is the most advanced stuff.So if you work on bleeding edge technology, then you are probably doing research that very few people Understand, however, the advances that you make will really Hush. Yacht. Industry forwards. Here is a quote from Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy. When talking about this leadership principle, He says that, in some cases, it's been whole cloth invention. In some cases we've used or it's been whole cloth invention. If you tell me that you've invented something from whole cloth, then you mean that you had no real starting point, no template. You didn't take inspiration from something else and then iterate on it. Instead, you had a completely original idea. This comes from the world of tailoring and garment making clothes. If you start with a piece of whole cloth, then you could make it into anything. Jeans... T-shirts. Curtains, anything at all. There's nothing to base your creation on, in other words. No suggestion of an idea or direction.So, if you invent something out of whole cloth, then you really have achieved something great and original. In the second example, we heard the noun 'implementation'. Implementation. As in, I like this idea, but I don't think this is the best implementation. I don't think this is the best implementation. Implementation is a noun but again let's look at the verb. The verb form of this word is 'to implement'. Implement. If I implement something, then I take a plan and I put it into action. I apply a system or idea. We often use the word implementation when we're going to discuss how an idea is going to work in real life. For instance: A local government might decide that increasing the price of parking is a good idea. But how are we going to implement this? Because we need to get the implementation right. Perhaps they increased the price in a certain part of the city first. And maybe only for people who don't live locally. That would be a good implementation.So. You might have a good idea, but when you implement it, make sure you get the implementation right. And if you want to implement a great system for improving your English and your communication skills, then maybe we can work together. My full-time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills.So, if you need English to do your job, but you don't speak it natively, then I would like to meet you. 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. Starting on our very first call, we can focus on the specific opportunities that you personally have to improve your English and communication skills, and the mistakes that you make most often, or cause the biggest problems with your communication. We don't use textbooks or anything like that. We're going to work with the way that you are actually communicating and analyze that to find out what your opportunities are to really improve the way that you are communicating in English at work. And right now, you can use the code PODCAST30 at work. Check out to get a 30% discount off your first booking of 30 or 45 or 60 minutes, whatever you like.Sometimes my calendar gets a little busy, so if you have trouble finding a time that works for you, then you can always send me a message through the contact page on the website and ask if I have any time to fit you in. I've worked with over 1,000 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 and helping you to achieve yours. Okay, let's move on. The second Amazon leadership principle I want to talk to you about today is what they call learn and be curious. Learn. And be curious. And they describe it like this. Amazon say that leaders are never done learning. And always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and acts To explore them. This is definitely one of my favourite ideas on the list. I spend most of my day having interesting conversations with international professionals around the world about their work and passions in different industries.So I'm very lucky to spend a lot of my time learning while I'm coaching people. Again, checking in with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. He tells us that this is the leadership principle that most differentiates leaders who grow their careers significantly versus those that stay stagnant. Let's take a listen. To some natural and native ways to talk about learning new things at work. I spent a couple of months upskilling before I joined this team. I spent a couple of months upskilling before I joined this team. I think the key to professional development is having a growth mindset. I think the key to professional development is having a growth mindset. I think I might try to get an MBA. I just feel like my career has plateaued over the past couple of years. I think I might try to get an MBA. I just feel like my career has plateaued over the past couple of years. Okay, in that second example, we had the phrase "a growth mindset". A growth mindset. As in, I think the key to professional development is having a growth mindset. I think the key to professional development is having a growth mindset. Quite simply, your mindset is how you think about things and how you approach situations. The idea of having a growth mindset is that you enter situations looking for opportunities to learn, grow and improve. And you know that you are not perfect yet. You have more to learn. This is a really common phrase to hear during job interviews In sentences like, we're looking for someone with a growth mindset. We're looking for someone with a growth mindset.So I should make an important point here about the word growth and the way that we use it. Growth. G-R-O-W-T-H is a noun. But it can be used as an adjective in phrases like growth mindset. One mistake that I hear a lot of people make is to say that they want to grow up their skills. Or that they have grown up a lot by working on a particular project. In fact, I think I've discussed this phrase with Two of the people I'm coaching just today.So. What is wrong with these examples? The problem here is that we only ever use this phrase to grow up. Talk about going from being a child to being an adult. And that's really the only use that the phrasal verb to grow up. Us. Whenever we're talking about professional growth and professional development, we just need the word grow and nothing else. We can say that we want to grow our skills or that we've grown a lot while we've been working on a particular project, for instance. There are lots of phrasal verbs where the verb on its own and the phrasal verb basically have the same meaning. If I ask you to sit or to sit down, These mean exactly the same thing. I can say "Please come in, sit" or "Please come in, sit down" They mean the same thing. And there are lots of examples like this. However, Grow up. Is not one of these. If I say I've grown up a lot, then I kind of mean I've stopped behaving like a child. It's often something we hear in insults. If your boss ever tells you to grow up, this means that you're behaving like a child. You're immature and behaving in a childish way. You never want to hear someone say that you should grow up.So one more time, when we're talking about professional growth, we just need that word on its own. Well, In the third example, we had the word Plateaued. That old. As in I just feel like my career has plateaued over the past couple of years. I just feel like my career has plateaued.So this is the verb to plateau. And the best way to think about this verb is to first think of the noun that it came from. And that noun is 'plateau', 'a plateau'.So what is a plateau? And I should say the spelling here is P-L-A-T-E-A-U. Slightly strange spelling. I'm pretty sure that one comes from French. Let's just double check. We'll do some live Google searching on our podcast recording. Can we get the etymology here? Find out where this came from?Yeah, this comes from: French that. What is a plateau? A plateau. Is a flat piece of land raised high above the land around it. Think of it as a mountain. But instead of finishing in a Point or a peak a single small piece of land right at the top It finishes in a large, flat... Area. We use this as a verb. To plateau. When something has improved to a point and then stopped improving. As if you've gone up this hill, this mountain, the land has kept rising very quickly and then suddenly stops. And continued very flat. A lot of people feel this way. About their ability to speak a second language. They improved really quickly to begin with, they learned a lot very quickly, maybe even for several years, but then they stopped improving. And they have simply maintained their level. We could say that these people have hit a plateau. They have hit a plateau or that they have plateaued. Pattoing can be really annoying when it comes to your language skills, but perhaps even more frustrating and annoying when it comes to your career development. In a similar way, The quote I mentioned a couple of minutes ago, When? Again, Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy described some careers as, St. Stagnant. Stagnant refers to a physical thing. Stagnant water. Is water. That doesn't move. It just stays in one place. It's not in a river or an ocean. Interesting dynamic lake, it's just a little pool sitting on its own. This often means that it smells bad and doesn't look very pleasant. Maybe you've seen a stagnant part of a river where water isn't really moving and things are growing on top and it's not very nice.Well, we can use this as an adjective to describe anything that we feel has stopped developing. Including, of course, our careers, And... Our professional skill sets. Next, upscale is a word that started to be heard in British English during the 1980s. And eventually made its way over to the USA. We heard this in the first example: I spent a couple of months upskilling before I joined this team. I spent a couple of months Pssskilling. If someone skills. Or if you upskill someone. Then you increase their ability to do their job. Or indeed, if you upskill, you increase your own ability to do your job and you improve your own skills.Sometimes through improving your current skills, but usually by learning or being taught new skills. There are actually a few prefixes that we can add to the beginning of the word 'skill' to talk about how our professional abilities change.So, adding the letters RE to the beginning gives us the verb to re-skill. To re-skill. Around 20 years ago, this was another common way to talk about developing new skills. However, upskill. Is now far more popular. Popular. You will still hear both words used to talk about learning new skills, however. The subtle difference here is that upskill usually is used to talk about growing in your current career and your current field. Whereas reskill suggests that you are moving toward a new career or a new industry. We can add the letters D and E to make D skill. Deskilling is when advances in technology mean that skilled workers no longer need to use their skills. Therefore, over time these skills get lost because they're not practiced. As automation has become increasingly common, de-skilling is happening across many industries. I think we still need to wait and see how much de-skilling is going to result from the increasing relevance and importance of artificial intelligence or AI tools. For instance. And of course, yes, we use this word to talk about jobs requiring less skills or lower levels of skill, but we often use this verb to talk about workers themselves and how if we don't use our skills for a long period of time, then we're likely to lose them. We get de-skilled. I spent a good amount of time in my 20s working in IT at a couple of different universities in the UK. However, I doubt if I could walk back into one of those jobs today. After several years out of that industry, I have definitely become De-scaled.So don't forget that you can book a session with me to work on your English communication skills by going to the website www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's the title of the podcast, breakoutbusinessenglish.com, or clicking on the link down in the show notes. And use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, at checkout to get a 30% discount off your booking. I've worked with over 1,000 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. Between episodes of the podcast, you can get videos every couple of days on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Just search for Breakout Business English. If there's a topic that you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I would be excited to hear your ideas. Leave me a message or a comment on one of my YouTube videos and I look forward to hearing from you. Finally, if you are listening on Apple Podcasts, then I invite you to leave a review. Every review really helps me out and helps to push this podcast to new listeners and grow the show. If you found this podcast useful and you think that there are some valuable things in here, then feel free to write a couple of kind words and I thank you for that in advance. That is another great place to request a topic for a future podcast. That's it for today. If you've made it this far, then you are one of my most loyal listeners who gets to the end of these episodes.So thank you so much for your time and for listening. And I'll talk to you again next time, this time next week. On the Breakout Business English podcast. Thanks a lot, everyone. Talk to you soon.