“You walk in with your idea, people are going to engage with you. They’re going to get into your data, they’re going to get into your thought process and they’re going to challenge you, and they’ll also build on it. So you’re going to walk out with a different product…better.”
Today our guest is finance gal Mona Leung, a Director here in AWS Finance. Mona draws on her 2 decades of finance experience before joining Amazon in 2014. She tells us what was different about Amazon, what advice she would give herself if starting out again, and oh yes we can't forget, Mona’s motto aka the 'Mona Leadership Principles'. We hope you enjoy!
2:15 Pizza Hut Finance
3:38 What Mona was like as a kid…an athlete
6:20 What was different when joining Amazon? - Taking risks & big ideas.
7:06 Mona’s Amazon origin story
10:01 Leadership style – be bold, be vocal, take risks, embrace mistakes
11:11 Advice to new hires – unlearning, don’t just default to old habits
11:51 What Mona unlearned – wanting people to like your idea vs. wanting them to help with your idea
14:57 What qualities do you look for in a new hire? The spark & The genuineness.
17:51 Something about Amazon – it’s fun.
20:31 MONA’s MOTTO aka the Mona Leadership Principles
23:21 What advice Mona would give herself starting out
26:19 The worst advice Mona ever received – you should aim to be in the CFO pipeline by ‘this’ age
27:56 on Diversity – how Amazon is like the U.N., in culture & work experience
30:41 The 3 people Mona would most want to have dinner with
31:11 Active listening
32:11 What Mona learns from her children (and how they help her with work)
36:41 Parting words for those just starting out – be mindful but relax, it’s a journey
Mona on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monasleung/
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Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/
Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunken
To find us online: charleskunken.com/podcast or email the show with any questions, comments, requests for guests, etc: charlie@charleskunken.com
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Music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’ (instrumental version), goodbaby.band/musicvideos
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