Tim Cook Vs Steve Jobs: How top CEOs steered Apple

The iconic Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Steve Jobs breathed his last in 2011 leaving the top corporate vacancy vacant. It was difficult to fill his shoes, however, Tim Cook was there. The 1.83m man has been in Apple for many years and had been steering the operations department as well.

Let’s list down five key differences between the two Chief Executive Officers of Apple as highlighted in “Tim Cook’s biography by Leander Kahney:

1- Tim Cook is not a tech guy as much as Steve Jobs was. Tim Cook can be called a generalist though Jobs was a specialist when it came to technology. This can be attributed to the fact that Cook spent years handling the operations department at Apple but Jobs was more concerned about design, technology and innovation.

2- The incumbent CEO Tim Cook believes in philanthropy but charity did not matter much to Steve Jobs. This seems a bit callous but when it comes to social work, Tim Cook leapfrogs his predecessor.

3- Tim Cook focuses more on Apple’s employees and their working conditions, especially the ones engaged in supply chains across the world. Such degree of care was not exercised by Apple when Steve Jobs was leading it.

4- Tim Cook believes more in sustainable development and is more focused on developing technology focusing Climate Change but Steve Jobs was not that much concerned about environmental standards.

5- Cook believes in subtle use of power to admonish Apple employees but Steve Jobs did not restrain from abusing people upfront. There were times when he referred to chip manufacturers as ‘fu***** di**less A**holes’.

In any case, both the tech giants are instrumental in shaping up the world and providing us with gadgets which are state-of-the-art and are handy. Broadly speaking, Tim Cook seems to be more empathetic and mindful towards his employees as well as customers but Steve Jobs focused more on the customers and tried to bring out the best technology.

Nonetheless, the comparison is not meant to portray anyone in bad light or portray the other CEO in a favorable light. Both Jobs and Cook handled their jobs pretty nicely. It is just the fact that humans are inherently different. Apple posted profits both under the leadership of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook.

As far as ‘Who steered Apple better and how’ is concerned, you should make a choice for yourself.