It can be pretty awkward when your boss singles you out, especially in front of everyone.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy admitted the time this happened to him during a meeting.
The CEO talks about the importance of 'earning trust' in business on the Inside Amazon channel on YouTube.
He described the ways to earn trust as a leader like delivering results, speaking up, owning mistakes, being self-critical, fixing issues, and using the data to back up claims.
Advert
Leaders must also speak their minds even when it's 'awkward or embarrassing.'
To illustrate his point, Jassy shared a personal story.
'I'll tell you a short story that's a personal story,' he said. 'It's a little bit embarrassing but I'll share it.'
Jassy explains that back in the early 2000s, when he was co-leading the marketing team, he had to present their operating plan to the sales team.
'Back then, we were still using PowerPoint presentations. We had a slide deck that was 220 slides if you can believe, it was a six-hour meeting,' Jassy explained.
'I was presenting the first 80 slides,' Jassy said describing his moment of interruption.
Just ten slides in, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos interrupted him saying: 'All your numbers are wrong on this slide.'
Taken aback, Jassy responded by asking the Blue Origin founder why he made such a bold statement.
'Within a few seconds of him starting to dissect these numbers, I realised that he was right,' Jassy said realising that all the numbers were indeed incorrect.
'I was, of course, embarrassed and I said you're right.'
Bezos kept his CEO on the spot, replying: 'Why should I believe anything else in this presentation if those numbers are wrong?'
Surprisingly though, the meeting did continue, covering the whole 200 slides.
'It was a very good learning experience,' Jassy admitted in the video. 'I wasn't resentful or mad at Jeff for pointing that out.'
Instead, he views it as a 'very valuable lesson on what it means to dive deep and what it means to have ownership over the detail in your presentations.'
To sum up his story, Jassy says he earned Bezos' trust by owning up to his mistakes, being vocally self-critical and using the experience to improve for next time.
Despite the awkward encounter, Jassy believes he's become a better presenter because of it.