Throughout his career, Daryl Hammett, general manager of global demand and operations at Amazon Web Services (AWS), was often the only Black executive in the room.
“Sometimes, the top can feel lonely for people who look like me,” said Hammett.
With Black talent representing only 4% of executive roles in tech, he knew he wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
Inspired by Amazon’s Leadership Principles (one of the reasons Hammett was attracted to the company), he wrote a document to propose a new program called Empowering Network of Amazon Black Executives (ENABLE) for Black executives in AWS. He got support from his team and allies across the organization, and the program quickly expanded to include executives from across Amazon.
ENABLE members connect over quarterly meetings or at regional meetups to mentor and learn from one another, and bond over shared experiences to strengthen their sense of inclusion and belonging at work. They’re also focused on helping their teams succeed at Amazon. They always consider how they can expose opportunities to their employees that they might not have otherwise in any other company. And once a year, they get together in person at the ENABLE Summit, a formal professional development event.
Here are five leadership lessons that helped some of our ENABLE leaders thrive and grow over the course of their careers.
