Tim Cook is preparing to pass the baton as Apple approaches its first leadership transition in 15 years, and at the heart of the moment is a piece of advice that has come full circle. It is the same guidance Steve Jobs gave Cook when he took over—a lesson he now intends to pass on to his likely successor, John Ternus. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, conducted just weeks before announcing his retirement, Cook reflected on the pivotal moment that helped define his leadership journey.
"Don’t ask what I would do, Jobs told Cook. Just do the right thing," Jobs had told Cook.
When asked about his advice for the new CEO, Cook said, “I would probably say the same thing,” Cook said.
“You can get in paralysis if you start trying to port yourself into somebody else’s thinking,” Cook told WSJ.
In other words, the future of Apple would always be connected with the past. Even if it needed a dongle.
“I would say: Be yourself,” Cook went on. “Keep a firm North Star on the values of the company. Because if you get the values right, if you keep the North Star in clear view, you may be blown off course a little bit, but eventually you will come back to the right path. I have always found that to be true.”
New CEO after Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from the job that he inherited from the late Steve Jobs, ending a nearly 15-year reign that saw the company’s market value soar by more than $3.6 trillion during an iPhone-fueled era of prosperity.
Cook, 65, will turn the CEO duties to Apple’s head of hardware engineering, John Ternus, on September 1 while remaining involved with the Cupertino, California, company as executive chairman. That’s similar to the transitions made by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Netflix’s Reed Hastings after they ended their highly successful tenures as CEO.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company," Cook said in a statement. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people.”
Although he never shook the perception that he lacked Jobs’ vision, Cook leveraged the popularity of the iPhone and other breakthroughs orchestrated by his predecessor to lift Apple to heights that seemed unfathomable when it was on the brink of bankruptcy during the mid-1990s.
"Don’t ask what I would do, Jobs told Cook. Just do the right thing," Jobs had told Cook.
When asked about his advice for the new CEO, Cook said, “I would probably say the same thing,” Cook said.
“You can get in paralysis if you start trying to port yourself into somebody else’s thinking,” Cook told WSJ.
In other words, the future of Apple would always be connected with the past. Even if it needed a dongle.
“I would say: Be yourself,” Cook went on. “Keep a firm North Star on the values of the company. Because if you get the values right, if you keep the North Star in clear view, you may be blown off course a little bit, but eventually you will come back to the right path. I have always found that to be true.”
New CEO after Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from the job that he inherited from the late Steve Jobs, ending a nearly 15-year reign that saw the company’s market value soar by more than $3.6 trillion during an iPhone-fueled era of prosperity.Cook, 65, will turn the CEO duties to Apple’s head of hardware engineering, John Ternus, on September 1 while remaining involved with the Cupertino, California, company as executive chairman. That’s similar to the transitions made by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Netflix’s Reed Hastings after they ended their highly successful tenures as CEO.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company," Cook said in a statement. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people.”
Although he never shook the perception that he lacked Jobs’ vision, Cook leveraged the popularity of the iPhone and other breakthroughs orchestrated by his predecessor to lift Apple to heights that seemed unfathomable when it was on the brink of bankruptcy during the mid-1990s.
