Business Insights: Learn How to Create a Business Plan........and Why There's an Amazon Today—The Leadership Failures That Made It Possible.

🚨 The Truth About Corporate Leadership No One Wants to Admit

Amazon didn’t win because they had an unbeatable, revolutionary idea.Amazon didn’t win because they had better people.Amazon didn’t win because they had the perfect business model.

No.

Amazon exists today because the leaders in traditional retail failed.

Amazon won because the very people who should have dominated e-commerce—the executives and top leaders in the retail world—got too comfortable, too slow, and too caught up in their own self-importance.

They were so busy cashing checks, protecting their own status, and blocking others from rising up, that they never saw the storm coming.

By the time they realized what was happening, it was already over.

🔥 The Leadership Failure That Opened the Door for Amazon

I spent over two decades inside one of the biggest retail companies in the world. A company that taught me more about business, strategy, HR, and leadership than any MBA program ever could.

A company that showed me how to stack it high and watch it fly, how to run a business from the front lines to the boardroom, and how to execute at a level most people never get to see.

I started at the absolute bottom—grinding it out in the trenches, or shall we say, in a parking lot full of buggies.

From those early days, I worked my way up through the ranks, eventually overseeing an $800 million sales revenue business, leading a team of 2,000+ associates, managing over $26 million in inventory, and pioneering e-commerce and omnichannel rollouts before they were the industry standard.

I lived through the evolution of retail, and I saw firsthand how those at the top ignored the future staring them in the face.

And what did I see when I got there?

💀 Toxic leadership at the highest levels.💀 Political games replacing real work.💀 The worst people in the best positions.💀 The real miracle workers—store managers and dedicated employees—getting destroyed behind closed doors in what was referred to as "Talent Meetings."

And while they were breaking their backs, the ones at the top?

Well, their complacency created the very morale-killing jargon that was passed off as leadership strategies:

🔥 "Way of Working"🔥 "Tour to Teach"🔥 "High-Performance Culture"

Which, in reality, all translated to:

🚨 "I, as a leader of this company, can’t tell you what is wrong or how to fix it, but I can deflect the spotlight onto the very people who show up for me every single day."

They never walked a mile in their employees’ shoes, but they had enough self-integrity to take their own responsibilities and place them on the heads of those they led.

💀 It was sick watching futures get torn apart—especially by people you never thought would do that.💀 And even worse? Watching others in positions of power and wondering, ‘How in the hell did they even get here?’

The answer?

🔥 Smoke and mirrors.

🚨 Simple-minded, unintelligent, high-entitled so-called leaders shielded by the toxic river they were able to survive in.

No, I’m not bitter.

💯 I’m blessed.

Because now?

🔥 I get to do what I love, next to the people I love the most, while traveling and using those moments as lessons learned.

And when those same people—those same leaders—get offended?When they start getting defensive?

🚨 Well, here’s the truth they can’t deny:

💀 There never should have been an Amazon.

But the real change agents that built the company left the company.

And just like so many businesses today, leadership refused to evolve.

But I guarantee you this—

🔥 There’s always someone in the shadows who is willing to do what they won’t.

And unfortunately, when you work for these types of leaders?

🔥 Your grit is taken. Your drive is crushed. Your fight is stolen.

And what happens next is no different than the relationship I’ve seen between business owners and their dogs.

🚨 They feed you.🚨 They tell you when to sit, sleep, live.🚨 And when they’re done with you—when they’ve drained you of every last bit of loyalty—you’ll be put down.

And in the end, they’ll tell you they did you a favor.

🔥 Final Thoughts....

The world didn’t need Amazon.

🚀 It needed companies that should have dominated e-commerce to step up, innovate, and execute.🚀 It needed leaders to stop talking about the past and start building for the future.🚀 It needed people at the top to actually lead.

But they didn’t.

💀 And that’s why now we can't live without Amazon!

🔥 Now, what are you going to do?

Need assistance with your business? Ready to look ahead at the next ten years? Or maybe you just need some help learning business. I will be your partner as we live through Industry 4.0 and continue the culture of change. I can help you "future-proof" your business and be ready for the next 10 years! What are you going to do? Lead, execute, or get out of the way? Thanks for reading!

David Locke | Business Architect | Digital Transformation Strategist | Founder and CEO, Design219 L.L.C

www.design219.tech let us help youi scale your business today!