The middle "The Washington Post»Has offered an extensive interview, presented by Jena McGregor, with current Apple CEO Tim Cook, about his first 5 years at the helm of the company. The interview covers a large number of topics that help us understand how Cook deals with his position day after day, and explains in great detail the mentality of the man at the front of the ship.
The first thing Tim wanted to make clear is that He does not think he is the typical CEO of a technology multinational in the sector, away from his clients and maintaining his role as a visible face in a company of such dimensions.
"I believe that a CEO should not be something traditional. A traditional CEO is one separate from his clients. A lot of CEOs of consumer-focused companies don't actually interact with them. "
“I also think that traditional CEOs think that their work is based on the profit or loss of the company, on the income statement, on the expenses, the balance sheet of their company. And that is important. But I don't think that's the only thing that matters. We have an incredible responsibility with employees, with the communities and countries in which we operate, and even with those who assemble their products, developers, ... In short, with the entire Apple ecosystem. "
When asked about the company's long-term growth prospects, Cook highlighted the services offered by the company as well as the implementation of the iPad Pro, which is increasingly being introduced into business environments:
«In today's products we have a multitude of services (iCloud, App Store, Apple Pay, ...) that have grown in recent months from $ 4 billion to about $ 23 billion (in sales). Next year we hope to be on the Fortune 100 list for annual growth. On the other hand, the iPad Pro. We saw last quarter that approximately half of the people who buy one wear it at work. We have a huge opportunity there. Last year we made $ 25 billion from it all over the world. We are collaborating much better with key partners, this is very important, that our products can be used with devices from other companies, that they work well together. "
On social issues, Cook spoke about the Apple's stance on civil rights and climate change, which fits with the customer and product-centric approach:
«I think that everyone should make their own decision about it. Perhaps there are compelling reasons why some prefer to remain silent. For us, however, we seek to empower people through our products, and whose goal in life is to change the world for the better, it is not comfortable to share space with those who have another point of view on this issue. We know that they are the ones who are poisoning the planet, leaving their carbon footprint. I believe that each generation has a responsibility to expand the meaning of human rights. "
Another interesting question was when I asked him about the mistakes made by the company during your tenure in these 5 years as CEO at the head of the almighty Apple:
'I have and have made mistakes, of course. For example, I hired the wrong person to lead the sales team retail (referring to former employee John Browett). That was clearly a blunder. I do not speak ill of him. I think we could say that it didn't fit here culturally. However, we quickly found out and fixed the bug as soon as possible. And I'm finally proud of what we did. "
In the interview we could see not only the impression that Cook has about his five years at the helm of this project, but also the progress Apple is making over the years, and the importance of Cook's signature leadership at the helm of such a cosmopolitan and influential company as Apple.
