Passion determines career success or stagnation, says Amazon CEO Jassy

Your professional trajectory will likely be determined by how you respond to being advised that, even after years of employment, you need to upskill. That is, at least, what Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, says.

Among the sixteen leadership principles that the digital giant's founder, Jeff Bezos, outlined, Jassy claimed that the quality that has most distinguished individuals around him who have had significant career growth from those who have remained static is an unwavering curiosity.

The 56-year-old seasoned Amazon employee claimed last week in a corporate YouTube video that learning new things requires a voracious appetite. He went on to remark that you are decompressing as a person and as a learning professional the moment you believe there is nothing more for you to learn.

Sustaining the belief that you are not an expert is, as Jassy put it, "not easy to do." It is more typical to believe that after you have studied, become an expert in your field, and advanced through the ranks, it is your time to teach others.

The nature of work is constantly changing, though; consider how managers had to adjust to managing from home during the pandemic, and consider how artificial intelligence will soon further disrupt most industries. 

Jassy, who has risen through the ranks of Amazon over the course of two decades, stated that knowledge may change drastically, even if you spend months or years mastering it. He went on to say that you have to think of that as part of the fun of what you do, instead of feeling intimidating and scary.

He continued by issuing a warning: many professionals are "terrific" at talking about how they would adjust to changes in the sector, but then either revert to the previous practices or don't even try to put the changes into practice. Jassy advised having a strategy for how you're going to change and actually implementing it to help you avoid the trap of talking the talk but not living the walk.