Amazon Leadership Principles Interview Questions Guide

Amazon and AWS interviews are built around 16 Leadership Principles (LPs). Every behavioral question in the loop is really a probe for one or two of these, scored on a 5-point scale from Concern to Strength. Here's what they are, which ones can block a hire on their own, and how to structure an answer that actually earns Strength-level evidence.

What the Leadership Principles loop assesses

Rather than one generic "tell me about yourself" conversation, an Amazon or AWS loop splits the 16 LPs across several interviewers, each usually owning one or two principles plus a role-specific functional competency. Every question is a STAR-based probe — Situation, Task, Action, Result — and the interviewer will keep digging with follow-ups until they have enough evidence to rate you Concern, Mild Concern, Mixed, Mild Strength, or Strength on each principle they own.

The full list of 16 principles: Customer Obsession, Ownership, Invent and Simplify, Are Right A Lot, Learn and Be Curious, Hire and Develop the Best, Insist on the Highest Standards, Think Big, Bias for Action, Frugality, Earn Trust, Dive Deep, Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit, Deliver Results, Strive to Be Earth's Best Employer, and Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility.

Customer ObsessionStart with the customer and work backward from their needs.

OwnershipThink long-term; act on behalf of the whole company, not just your team.

Invent and SimplifyExpect innovation and find ways to simplify.

Are Right, A LotStrong judgment and good instincts; seek diverse perspectives.

Learn and Be CuriousAlways seek to improve; explore new possibilities.

Hire and Develop the BestRaise the bar with every hire and promotion.

Insist on the Highest StandardsRelentlessly high standards, even when they seem unreasonably high.

Think BigCreate and communicate a bold direction that inspires results.

Bias for ActionSpeed matters; most decisions are reversible and don't need extensive study.

FrugalityAccomplish more with less; constraints breed resourcefulness.

Earn TrustListen attentively, speak candidly, treat others respectfully.

Dive DeepOperate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently.

Have Backbone; Disagree and CommitRespectfully challenge decisions, then commit once a call is made.

Deliver ResultsFocus on the key inputs and deliver them with the right quality, on time.

Strive to Be Earth's Best EmployerWork every day to create a safer, higher-performing workplace.

Success and Scale Bring Broad ResponsibilityBe big, impact the world, and be far from perfect — own that responsibility.

The critical-LP hire bar

Not every principle carries equal weight in the final decision. Four principles — Customer Obsession, Ownership, Earn Trust, and Deliver Results — are treated as critical. A Concern rating on any one of these is generally enough to cap the overall recommendation at No Hire, regardless of how strong the rest of your loop was, and a clear Earn Trust failure (an integrity issue) can push the recommendation all the way to Strong No Hire. In practice, that means you can't "make up" for a weak Customer Obsession story with a great Think Big story — the critical LPs function as a floor, not an average.

How the bar scales by level

The same Ownership question gets judged differently depending on your target level. At L4, interviewers expect you to own a task or feature with some guidance and show impact at the team level. At L5, they expect you to own a significant component end-to-end and show impact across a team or product area, working independently through ambiguity. At L6 and above, the expected scope moves to programs, systems, or portfolios, with impact felt across an organization and the ability to define strategy where the problem itself is ambiguous. The STAR structure doesn't change — what changes is the scope and ambiguity your story needs to demonstrate.

What a strong answer looks like

A strong Amazon-style answer is specific, personal, and measurable: a real situation (not a hypothetical "I would..."), a clear description of what you personally did — not what "we" did as a team — and a result with a number or concrete outcome attached. Interviewers are trained to probe exactly this: if you say "we decided," expect a follow-up asking what you specifically did. The strongest answers also hold up under follow-up questions, since an inability to go deeper on your own story is treated as a sign the ownership wasn't really yours.

Common mistakes

Answering in "we" instead of "I." This is one of the most common red flags interviewers are trained to watch for — it obscures your personal contribution.
Using a hypothetical instead of a real story. "I would probably..." signals you don't have a real example on hand for that principle.
No measurable result. A story without a number, outcome, or concrete change is hard to rate above Mixed.
Reaching too far back, or too small a scope. An example that's old or clearly below your target level's expected scope undercuts an otherwise good story.
Treating a critical LP as optional. A weak Customer Obsession or Ownership story can cap your entire loop even if every other principle lands well.

Practice prompts (original, for self-study)

These are original STAR-style prompts written for self-practice — not real or leaked Amazon interview questions.

Customer Obsession — Describe a time you changed a decision because of direct customer feedback, even though it meant more work for your team.

Ownership — Tell me about a problem you fixed that wasn't technically your responsibility. Why did you step in, and what happened?

Dive Deep — Describe a time a surface-level metric looked fine but you dug into the details and found a real problem underneath. What tipped you off?

Deliver Results — Tell me about a time you had to hit a deadline with fewer resources than you needed. What did you cut, and what did you protect?

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit — Describe a time you disagreed with a decision your manager made, pushed back, lost the argument, and then had to commit anyway.

Bias for Action — Tell me about a time you made a reversible decision quickly instead of waiting for a perfect analysis. How did it turn out?

Frequently asked questions

How many Leadership Principles does Amazon have?

16. They range from Customer Obsession and Ownership to newer additions like Strive to Be Earth's Best Employer and Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility.

Which LPs are most critical to pass?

Customer Obsession, Ownership, Earn Trust, and Deliver Results are treated as critical — a Concern on any one of them can cap the overall recommendation at No Hire even if the rest of the loop goes well.

What is the STAR method?

Situation, Task, Action, Result — a structure for behavioral answers that gives the interviewer a real scenario, your specific role in it, what you did, and a measurable outcome.

Does the bar change by level?

Yes. The same principle is judged against a wider scope and more ambiguity as the target level rises, from task-level ownership at L4 to org-wide strategic ownership at L6 and above.

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