If You’re Giving Advice, You’re Not Coaching

Everyone else asks: “What’s next?” Bezos asks: “What will still matter in ten years?” In coaching, this is the difference between chasing hot topics and building around the constants of human nature. People will always want clarity. They will always want connection. They will always want a way forward. If your offer is built on those foundations, no algorithm update or market trend can knock it down.

2. Ship Before It’s Pretty

Bold doesn’t mean reckless—it means acting before the safety net is visible. Bezos launched Amazon when the internet was still something people said with air quotes. Coaches often hold onto programs like they’re fine china—waiting until they’re flawless. But the market doesn’t reward flawless. It rewards useful. Launch when it’s good enough to change someone’s day. Perfection is fear in fancy clothes.

3. Work Backwards, Not Forwards

Bezos doesn’t start with an idea—he starts with a pain point someone will pay to erase. Then he works backwards to build the solution. Coaching is no different. Your genius is not the starting point. Their need is. When you start where they are, you create work that’s both valued and valuable.

4. Hire Your Future, Not Your Present

At Amazon, the first hires set the cultural DNA for everyone who follows. In coaching, your “first hires” are your first clients. They will tell the world what kind of work you do—and whether it’s worth paying for. Pick for alignment, not convenience. The wrong people will cost you more than they ever pay.

5. Build the Army Before the Battle

Capacity is the invisible advantage. Bezos built infrastructure before the flood of orders. Coaches tend to build systems only after they’re drowning. The time to prepare isn’t when you’re overwhelmed—it’s when you’re calm.

6. Change the Game, Not Just Your Score

Bezos didn’t try to out-bookstore the bookstores. He redefined what a bookstore could be. In coaching, this is the leap from “better than other coaches” to “offering something no one else can.” When you change the rules, you stop competing and start leading.

7. Think Like Decades Matter

Short-term wins are addictive. They also make you fragile. Amazon reinvests when others cash out, playing a compounding game the market can’t measure in quarters. In coaching, that means building a body of work and a reputation that grows in value over time. Every client is not just a transaction—they’re an asset in the story you’re building.

The Bezos Coaching Playbook — Sharp and Simple

1. Ask What Won’t Change
2. Ship Before It’s Pretty
3. Work Backwards
4. Hire Your Future
5. Build Before the Battle
6. Change the Game
7. Think Like Decades Matter

Here’s Where It Gets Real for Coaches

You can read Bezos stories all day, but without the ability to translate principles into practice, they’re just stories. 

Every lesson here demands a skill set most coaches never invest in:

Those skills aren’t just “nice to have”—they’re the foundation that makes the Bezos playbook possible in the coaching world.

And here’s the thing: you don’t get them by winging it. You get them by learning the craft, practicing under guidance, and committing to mastery.