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Jeff Bezos thanks Amazon employees and customers for paying for his jaunt to space: "You guys paid for all of this"

#1 · August 18, 2021, 12:12 am

Quote from Ali Scarlett on August 18, 2021, 12:12 am
I caught wind of Bezos's flight to space on YouTube when I noticed the media had a lot to say about it.
More than the flight, but what Bezos said in an interview after the flight:
Business Insider: "I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this," Bezos said during a post-flight press conference. "Seriously, for every Amazon customer out there and every Amazon employee, thank you from the bottom of my heart very much. It's very appreciated."
On the surface, this seems like a good strategy. "Thank you's" and gratitude encourage the behavior you want to see more of in people.
And, it's certainly better than if he would have used the stage to brag about how much better he is than the others who attempted space flight before him and failed.
But, many were still angry at his statement.
So, here's one reason that I think may have caused the negative reaction:
#1. It Was A Power-Taking Power Move
Imagine if the money (which was $5.5 billion) hadn't gone to space flight. What if Bezos had said:
Bezos: "I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this. You guys paid for the $5.5B that has just been donated toward the pro-choice movement and making abortions possible. Seriously, for every Amazon customer out there and every Amazon employee, thank you from the bottom of my heart very much. It's very appreciated."
This can feel power-taking because you didn't get a say in whether or not you want to contribute to that movement. So, whether you're pro-choice or pro-life is beside the point because, either way, your power and freedom to decide whether or not you want to support it would have been, in this case, completely taken away.
Personally, I think Bezos was caught up in the excitement of the moment and didn't realize what he was saying. At the same time, there's a chance he's still unsure of if he said anything wrong because, generally speaking, managers have a higher EQ than CEOs.

I caught wind of Bezos's flight to space on YouTube when I noticed the media had a lot to say about it.

More than the flight, but what Bezos said in an interview after the flight:

Business Insider: "I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this," Bezos said during a post-flight press conference. "Seriously, for every Amazon customer out there and every Amazon employee, thank you from the bottom of my heart very much. It's very appreciated."

On the surface, this seems like a good strategy. "Thank you's" and gratitude encourage the behavior you want to see more of in people.

And, it's certainly better than if he would have used the stage to brag about how much better he is than the others who attempted space flight before him and failed.

But, many were still angry at his statement.

So, here's one reason that I think may have caused the negative reaction:

#1. It Was A Power-Taking Power Move

Imagine if the money (which was $5.5 billion) hadn't gone to space flight. What if Bezos had said:

Bezos: "I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this. You guys paid for the $5.5B that has just been donated toward the pro-choice movement and making abortions possible. Seriously, for every Amazon customer out there and every Amazon employee, thank you from the bottom of my heart very much. It's very appreciated."

This can feel power-taking because you didn't get a say in whether or not you want to contribute to that movement. So, whether you're pro-choice or pro-life is beside the point because, either way, your power and freedom to decide whether or not you want to support it would have been, in this case, completely taken away.

Personally, I think Bezos was caught up in the excitement of the moment and didn't realize what he was saying. At the same time, there's a chance he's still unsure of if he said anything wrong because, generally speaking, managers have a higher EQ than CEOs.

Lucio Buffalmano has reacted to this post.

#2 · August 18, 2021, 7:31 am

Great catch, Ali.

Thank you for sharing this.

Yes, that was a very unfortunate approach to "gratitude", both in the words and delivery (starting with the laughter before it).

And especially so given the circumstances and the social tensions underway.

The US used to be more accepting and welcoming of billionaires and extreme personal success.
But it has become more like Europe now. Some high-profile billionaires who haven't been careful with public image have become the lightning rod of various personal frustrations, virtue-signaling attempts, and dark-side projections and self-manipulation (such as: believing they'd behave any differently than the billionaires).

And the trend seems to continue.

I checked the video first:

Notice the laughter at Bezos' comment. Even if just unconsciously, everyone knew that was a huge power move.

And then the comments, all very telling:

And:

Amazon's type of business makes it easier for people to frame it as "value-taking" and "oppressive".

But technically speaking, I don't think Bezos is doing anything different than many other billionaires are doing in a capitalist society.

In this climate, some "power intelligence" would be extremely helpful to billionaires to avoid that type of backlash.
I might make it a case study for this on Power University, including how Bezos could self-frame himself better. I think this is important for anyone who seeks personal success.

Ali Scarlett has reacted to this post.

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#3 · August 18, 2021, 11:38 am

At the top of my head, I don't have much to add to the dynamics and the communication blunder.

Amazon's type of business makes it easier for people to frame it as "value-taking" and "oppressive".
But technically speaking, I don't think Bezos is doing anything different than many other billionaires are doing in a capitalist society.

I think this is true.

We can ask the website owners who get de-ranked by Google whether they get support from virtue-signallers.

But I heard Google is getting scrutiny on anti-competition too.