21.11.2024 Today’s Inspiration from Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), in GeekWire
Dear Students,
At the moment, Matt Garman “is not a happy camper.”
Currently, Garman is known among his 115,000 AWS employees as the CEO forcing them into a full-time RTO (return-to-office), in the interest of “maintaining [AWS’] culture of innovation.” Yet the 18-year Amazon veteran from laid-back Scottsdale, Arizona has demonstrated the courage of his convictions, despite a petition signed by 500 employees to reverse his decree.
While steadfast in his commitment to this point-of-view, Garman conversely shifted gears early on by leveraging Stanford-earned undergrad and Master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering to complete an MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. When accepting his first-year summer internship at Amazon, he wasn’t even sure of what he’d be doing, requiring risk-taking and self–confidence, curiosity and initiative as he stepped into a company with “a worldwide sales team of 3 people,” as described in an interview on the Amazon site. (Note: that team is now 60,000 strong!)
Five promotions after entering AWS as one of its first Product Managers, though, Garman is excited about the potential of GenAI for the $100 company, leveraging his strategic vision, ability to influence, persuade and negotiate, along with strong attention to detail (per ICTMirror.com) on behalf of its evolving client base. Through Garman’s words in SiliconAngle, “Our job at AWS is to help customers and companies take advantage of this incredible technology. It’s about providing a secure, reliable and performant platform that allows them to innovate in ways they’ve never imagined.”
While the power skills highlighted above have helped the 48-year-old “to lift the developer experience so that builders can focus more of their skill and energy on the most innovative work,” as stated in WindowsCentral.com, through Garman’s clear commitment to both leadership and teamwork, it is perhaps Garman’s continuous learning orientation that is most impressive to his colleagues. As shared by Garman’s mentor and boss, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in CRN.com, “Garman has been one of the best “learners” [I have ever] met…”
Our coaches are here to help all of our ambitious international students, including you 🙂, to develop similar competencies, so that you, too, can helm an organization with a large global footprint (in 240 countries and territories), if you so desire. Why not?
Best,
Amy-Louise
Interested in learning more about Matt Garman?
Please see the following: