Question

Case in Point: Tim Cook Leads Apple

Tim Cook took the helm of Apple as CEO in 2011 after serving as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. At the time, there were questions regarding how much of Apple’s success was due to its founder, Steve Jobs, and whether anyone could live up to his legacy in terms of financial and innovation success. Since he took over, Cook has had some big successes such as the iPhone 6 which led to record profits in 2014, the Apple Watch, and Apple Pay. In 2018, the company had a market cap of over $920 billion—roughly double that of Exxon Mobile or Microsoft which are both considered major organizations.

It has been written that unlike his predecessor, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook doesn’t crave the spotlight. In fact, he has been described as “one of the nicest and most charitable CEOs out there.” He advises individuals to stay positive and “tune out” the cynics. He argues that if you don’t, “they become a cancer in your mind.” That is not where the differences end, however, between the approaches taken by Tim Cook and Steve Jobs.

Under Cook’s leadership, Apple has taken on more social issues. For example, since Cook took over, Apple began using renewable energy for its operations, stood up to the FBI in defense of user privacy, supported access to education, and advocated for LGBT rights. High school student Rebecca Kahn asked Cook for an interview, and he granted her one. She writes that his “objective in life is to work for some higher purpose.” When asked why she wanted to interview him, Kahn stated, “He is not just in charge of the world's largest tech company, but he personally advocates and stands up for things he believes are right. He travels the world and meets with political and innovative leaders.”

Cook believes in diversity of leadership and leadership approaches. He values transparency, reads customer e-mails (he says they serve to humble you), admits when he’s wrong, and argues that you can only do a few things that rise to the level of “great.” In a speech at the University of Glasgow, Cook had some advice for those in the audience, recommending “You have to find the intersection of doing something you’re passionate about and, at the same time, … is in the service of other people. I would argue that, if you don’t find that intersection, you’re not going to be very happy in life.

Multimedia Extension—Tim Cook Defends Apple’s Encryption Policy

Transcript

Case Discussion Questions

1. What did you know about Tim Cook prior to reading this case? Are you surprised to learn some of these things about his leadership style?

2. Which leadership approaches discussed in this chapter do the best job in explaining his leadership style?

3. Given what you’ve learned about Cook’s leadership style, would you want to work for Apple? Why or why not?

4. Do you think there is a relationship between Cook’s leadership approach and Apple’s success? Explain.

5. What personal characteristics do you think makes Cook an effective leader?

Please help. Thanks

Answer 1

I hardly knew about Tim Cook's leadership prior to this case. Yes, I am surprised to learn about some of the things about his leadership style from this case.

The leadership approaches that best explain his leadership style are transformational style and democratic style. These leadership styles are demonstrated in his focused approach at work and team orientation in decision making as well as motivating the work force.

Knowing leadership style of Cook, I would want to work for Apple. At Apple, there is inclusiveness and diversity, a good environment for learning and encouraging new skills to be learned.

There is a relationship between Cook's leadership approach and Apple's success as he has been able to lead the company for delivering the popular and successful products. He maintained patience, increased his understanding of the projects in pipeline and supported the team in their efforts.

Personal characteristics that helped Cook as an effective leader are his collaborative approach that created better team culture at Apple and increased participation of work force creating a positive atmosphere and of more responsibility.