Jassy says his dad taught him to keep his cool under pressure

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said his father's refrain to "keep your cool" is the tape he still plays when pressure builds, as Amazon News recounted from Bring Your Parents to Work Day at the company's Seattle headquarters.

It is a timely disclosure. Jassy framed the advice as operational, not sentimental, at a moment when Amazon is pushing aggressive bets across AI, robotics and space while fielding constant predictions of failure.

He grew up playing competitive sports and described himself as hot-tempered, learning only by touching the stove enough times to get even. Now he catches himself using his father's words as self-talk. "Keep your cool. Keep your cool. It's okay. It's going to be fine. Keep your cool," Jassy said he still tells himself.

The impact lands on managers who have to execute that evenness. Budgets for model training, robotics deployments and launch manifests do not tolerate panicked pivots. Staying on the boat, as Jassy put it, is the precondition for a group to solve problems.

Jassy took over from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021 after running AWS from its inception. He is known internally as even-keeled, a shift he attributes to deliberate practice, not temperament.

Formality backs the mantra. Amazon codifies 16 Leadership Principles that hiring panels are trained to probe, including a Bar Raiser with veto power over hiring decisions, according to Day One Careers. Customer Obsession anchors the list, with leaders expected to start with the customer and work backwards.

The anecdote is thin on tradeoffs. It does not explain when to stay cool versus when to cut a failing bet, and it offers no metric for that judgment.

The next test is immediate. Amazon heads into the Black Friday and holiday peak when its Stores, logistics and cloud capacity face their annual volume spike.