- Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Tell Generation Z to stop worrying About what their career in their 20s would look like. Instead, he encourages young people to focus on learning what they want to do, which is a good lesson Jassy has taught. Before starting his current nearly 30-year career at Amazon, he tried jobs like sports broadcasting, football coaching and investment banking.
Few topics spark as much debate as your 20-year-old looks. Some people regard ten years as The chaotic strugglewhile others see it as A rare window of opportunity.
But from the perspective of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Gen Z should remove the stress on its own and realize that they don’t have to plan their own lives before they’re in their 20s.
“I have a 21-year-old son and a 24-year-old daughter, and one thing I saw with them is that they both feel they have to know what they want to do in that era,” Jassie said in the podcast. How Leaders Lead with David Novak. “And I really don’t believe that’s true.”
It may feel like there is when figuring out what you want to do in your career, especially when AI is Completely reshape the work pattern– Jassy’s first-hand struggle.
After graduating from Harvard in 1990, he tried many career paths, including sports broadcasting, product management and entrepreneurship. He also worked in a retail golf shop, directed high school football, and tried investment banking. Eventually, he decided to go back to school and let the MBA explore entrepreneurship. Only from Harvard Business School He was a breakthrough role at Amazon a few months before he was 30.
“I tried a lot of things, and I think it’s just as important to know what you don’t want to do because it can actually help you figure out what you want to do.”
wealth Contact Jassy for comment.
The value of failure – Ask a question
Exploring interest is one thing, but for Jassy, 57, there is nothing more important to successfully ask questions. Have “why” or “WhyHe is talking about helping a career thriving on Amazon.
“We ask why, why keep on,” Jassy In his recent letter, To shareholders. “It can help us deconstruct problems, solve root causes, understand blockers and doors that previously seemed impossible to penetrate.”
Especially for Gen Z, being curious and operating with the right mindset can be a major stepping stone for your career.
“You’re doing an embarrassing performance, especially in your twenties, and that’s about attitude.” Jassie says In an interview LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky.
While there is also an opportunity element to find success in the end, and it may involve multiple setbacks, it may end up shooting in a corner office.
He added: “I feel lucky with my journey or adventure and I don’t think one of the things I do best is to overthink.”
The CEO has come a long way
While this seems to be a path to the top of the company ladder and requires an over-focused career path, the journey can be long and difficult in reality, and Jassy is just an example.
After graduating from undergraduate degree, Reed Hastingsco-founder NetflixWorked as a high school math teacher in Eswatini, a small southern African country in Peace Corps. Only after he returned, he returned to school and studied computer science at Stanford before starting the tech company is now worth more than $500 billion.
And, Walter CEO Bob Iger Disney The company started his Professions for predicting weather Become an aerial meteorologist at the local TV station in Ithaca, New York, and then become one of the most famous media executives.
Even Jassy’s own mentor, Jeff BezosStart with a typical teenage job: Flip burgers at McDonald’s.
“If you take it seriously, you can learn responsibilities at any job,” explain To the author of Cody Teets Golden Opportunity: McDonald’s began with an extraordinary career in McDonald’s. “You learned a lot when you worked at McDonald’s. It’s different from what you learned in school. Don’t underestimate that value!”
This story was originally fortune.com
