As Amazon’s founder and one of the richest men in the world, Jeff Bezos is no stranger to criticism.
At times, he’s used that criticism to grow, making big changes in Amazon. For example, when lawmakers chastised the internet behemoth for the low salaries of its warehouse workers, Amazon increased its minimum wage to $15 per hour, becoming one of the first large retailers to do so.
But when it comes to his core beliefs, Bezos has proved to be unwavering. For decades, he’s reiterated that Amazon is playing the long game, and that long-term strategy would always trump short-term profits when guiding the company’s decisions–at times to the chagrin of Amazon shareholders.
Yesterday, Bezos took to Twitter to reconcile these two powerful views. He referenced a 1999 article from Barron’s newspaper, using it to give advice on how to handle criticism.
It’s well worth reading:
“Listen and be open, but don’t let anybody tell you who you are,” Bezos wrote. “This was just one of the many stories telling us all the ways we were going to fail. Today, Amazon is one of the world’s most successful companies and has revolutionized two entirely different industries.” (INC.)