L7 at Amazon recently put on focus. Tell me about your focus stories -- did anyone get out of it? Management is basically making near-impossible requests without giving me enough resources at this point. Suggests I develop and publish more things on my own, while literally everyone else in the industry is working in teams with much more resources that I cannot get, and management is unwilling to put effort to help me acquire. More details: - L10 expects me to lead along his vision (which is fine) but refuses to schedule 1:1s with me to understand what that vision is, expects me to mindread it, cuts me off in meetings and leaves early, doesn't answer questions, doesn't entertain any scientific questioning of his thinking, then bashes me behind my back instead of having a human conversation with me - L8 doesn't do much about the above, despite that I believe it should be his job to facilitate this communication path - L5s/L6s lose trust in my ability to lead them since I really don't know what L10 wants, and neither do they - We are increasingly expected to deliver individual results instead of working as a team - When I come up with ideas, L6s usually reject them on the spot, but 2 months later claim them as their own idea in a doc they write behind my back Constructive advice? I'm a bit frustrated about how to deal with this situation. I really just want to work on interesting things as a team and launch something together instead of these internal trust battles. 900k+, 10+ yoe, bay area
You have no trust above and no trust below. Doesn't sound like a good situation tbh.
And from the sides?
Sounds like focus is deserved TBH.
Share TC, YoE and work location
edited
Just quit. At Amazon, it is not worth overthinking the BS. Judging from what you said, the l10 is a dumb ass. The toxic culture cascades down. I have seen this over and over again.
Yep. It’s written on the wall
I don’t think a “dumbass” can become a L10 - this person clearly has skills — we may not know it or care for it.
Leave Amazon before the toxic culture starts degrading your mental health. Why would you want to work in a place where people don’t respect you, your time or your efforts? There’s no winning with people who are incentivized to get rid of you.
Yeah I'm starting to search. Manager even suggested it, which is so weird -- When I manage people I always try to see why people are blocked and try to unblock them -- In what world do managers suggest their reports start shopping instead of unblocking their reports with help, docs, intros, hardware, data, whatever they need to be successful? Trying to figure out how much I should put into focus vs. just going all-in on interviewing externally at this point. I don't get the vibe that my management chain actually /wants/ me around at all.
Manager suggested to see if you leave before severance... saving money to the company! They want you to leave anyway to inflate the "good attrition" numbers. Don't go all-in, you don't want them to fire you with cause and no severance. But do the minimum possible that prevents you from being fired without the severance.
DM me, might be able to assist
Dang that’s a tough situation to be in.
L7 at Amazon get 900k!!!
When market was good, I saw a few L7 applied scientist offers at 1m-1.1m range.
What's the market like these days, did everything come down?
Internal trust battles *is* the job. I think you’re confused about how Amazon works.
Oof. I get it now. So once it gets to focus has one just fully lost? Or is Focus part of the job, too? Is Focus basically a trust battle challenge or a "you've already lost"?
OP you can come back from this, but you have to document everything and go above and beyond. You also need to do some soul searching to determine if it’s worth the effort. The situation you described sounds untenable. Regaining everyone’s trust is hard to do if not impossible and highly dependent on the individuals themselves. Is it worth trying to save or are you always going to wonder if they trust you? If it’s the latter of the two, move on.
Op are you on H1B/L1 visa?
Nope, no visa issues.
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edited. thanks i'll look!
Nice. It’s time to make a move