Steve Jobs was regarded as a visionary, as someone who truly pushed the boundaries of technology, and did all that by being a taskmaster and rather aggressive in his approach towards decision making at Apple, whether it was for designing products or services.
After Jobs stepped down, Tim Cook took over. However, with the impression Jobs left, Cook had really large shoes to fill, which he did and has been doing so splendidly for the past nine years. With Jobs no longer in the picture, it was obvious that Cook would be compared with Jobs in the decision he would take to push Apple forward.?
A recent report by the Wall Street Journal revealed an insight into how Cook¡¯s leadership has been different, but in many cases, very similar to Steve Jobs.?
The report talks about how Jobs asked Cook to particularly follow one specific advice at all times. Jobs said to Cook, ¡°Don¡¯t ask what I would do. Do what¡¯s right.¡±
The report talks about the time when Cook joined the company in the year 1998 and how his first meeting with Steve Jobs went on for over 11 hours.?
The report also highlights how employees feel working under Tim Cook has comparatively been relaxing, compared to when working under Steve Jobs. Jobs was a true taskmaster and we all are already aware of his views to make something truly extraordinary and perfect. However, the report also states that Cook is similarly demanding with crazy attention to detail.
Tim Cook¡¯s day starts at 4:00 AM, where the first thing he does every morning is to look at the global sales data. Every Friday, Cook will connect with operations and finance teams and address issues, if any. The report highlights one instance where Apple had wrongly-shipped 25 units of computers to South Korea instead of Japan. He said to his employees that Apple was, ¡°losing its commitment to excellence.¡±
When launching new products, Cook gets extremely cautious, especially when looking at new product ideas. He is often known to take, ¡°the position in some discussions that he doesn¡¯t want to release a product that may sell poorly and undermine the company¡¯s track record of success.¡±