Amazon has a list of leadership principles that I find incredibly articulate and valuable.
Consider this one on Customer Obsession:
Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.
Found at: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/principles
I know people that focus on their product. Others that focus on their competition. But it’s the folks that focus on their customers that are constantly evaluating both their products and marketing messages.
Here’s the thing though – to do it you have to take the risk of interacting and collecting feedback. And that can mean picking up the phone, or circling back to people who have written nasty notes.
All that said, when you work from the outside in (from the customer on the outside to the product and marketing teams on the inside), I find you end up with more compelling stories and more compelling products.
So it makes sense to me that Amazon has made this a key principle.