It may be hard to be humble when you’re the world’s richest man. But it’s not so hard to watch your tongue and be conscious of how your words may be interpreted. Amazon founder and Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos fails on both counts. Following his first Blue Origin space flight, Bezos demonstrated how much his head is up in the clouds when he said at a press conference, “I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all this.”
Perhaps Bezos was joking. Perhaps he was trying to appear appreciative—his comment did follow a big thank you to his entire Blue Origin team. Nonetheless, from a domineering and demanding corporate leader who has faced withering criticism over the years for his treatment of employees (he reportedly has intimidated them with comments like, “Are you lazy or just incompetent?”) it was a classic example of an executive with a tin ear.
Surely, Bezos must be aware of his privilege, especially when it comes to space travel. None of his $15-an-hour employees or virtually any other employees can ever dream of affording a Blue Origin space flight ticket costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet here is a billionaire essentially saying that he climbed on the backs of his employees to achieve his dream of traveling to space.
The comment triggered an outpouring of criticism, including from leading Congressional Democrats. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Tweet referenced a recent report that Bezos paid no federal income taxes in 2011 and 2007: “It’s time for Jeff Bezos to take care of business right here on Earth and pay his fair share in taxes.”
After thanking his flight crew, Bezos could easily have acknowledged how privileged he felt and left it at that.
Bezos is not alone. Hard-driving CEOs sometimes lack sensitivity in their comments, particularly when it comes to employees. I recall covering the announcement of a major bank merger and asking the CEO of the merged entity about the number of expected layoffs. “We’re going to chop 10,000,” he proclaimed, clearly proud that the deal would allow him to slash costs—a positive from the investor standpoint, but devastating to employees who would be losing their jobs.
Whether speaking of business success, or personal achievements, executives need to be able to step outside of their bubbles and be conscious of how their comments will play. A CEO’s primary audience may be the investment community, but she still needs to always think of how her statements will be read by other important constituencies, including employees, customers, regulators, and the communities in which the company operates.
The idea is not for executives to feel a need to censor themselves. Rather, they need to ensure they are sensitive to the concerns of others. This requires that they place themselves in the shoes of all their constituents by asking themselves, “How would I feel about his if I were an employee?” “How would I feel about it if I were a politician with oversight over my industry?” By placing themselves in the shoes of others, leaders can avoid making comments that have unintended negative consequences.