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Apple’s Leaders

Apple 🍎

Apple! Apple! Apple! You hear about it everywhere you go. Every commercial, every store you walk into, and nearly every classroom there is probably some sort of Apple product. This hasn't just been going on for these present days but the past few decades. Started with people having the newest computers, to the newest cell phones, and leading up to things such as Tv’s. Just like every company they have their ups and downs but that is where great leadership comes into play.

Being around for almost 50 years now, they have had a handful of CEOs and strong chairman that led to the success they are now. People such as Michael “Scotty” Scott who was the first CEO of Apple. Steve Jobs, One of the co-founders of Apple. Tim Cook who is now present leader of Apple and has created a name of his own. Without these 3 men the business might not be where it is today. Each of them all having different personalities and more importantly different management styles is what drove each and everyone of them to be great CEOs and bring something new to the table.

This blog will go more into detail of these 3 men and how they changed the future of technology and created the wonderful company we know, Apple.  

Michael Scott

Michael Scott was the first CEO for the company Apple. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and they decided they needed someone to lead the company that had a lot of experience. With the help of the company's first investor, Mike Markkula, the person they chose to fill that role was Michael Scott, and they made him the first CEO of the company. According to an interview that Scott had with Business Insider, he said that in the first four months of the company they managed to make enough money that Scott used it to pay off loans and paid off taxes (Business Insider). This shows what type of leader Scott is. It shows that he is a numbers person that understands that keeping  a company in the positives and not in debt ensures that the company will succeed. This was a smart leadership decision he made because of him properly allocating money, he was able to increase the company's financial performance.

Another aspect of the interview that showed his leadership skills was when he was asked, “Was it intimidating going into such a big role and how did you deal with it?” Scott’s response was excellent, when he said that he saw it as an opportunity and not a challenge. It is inspiring and shows his ability to be strong when given daunting tasks, and that shows he has lots of leadership skills and experience. Scott believed he was able to lead Apple correctly because he never let things “get bottled down” (Business Insider). That means that they had to always be planning for the next step and always keep recreating and reinventing the products to gain interest from the consumers.

Apple seems to still follow this idea that Scott put in place. For example, Apple usually releases a new Iphone every year, and every year when it is released it becomes the talk of the town. Scott made a huge impact as the first CEO of Apple, however, he is no longer the current CEO. The next career he pursued was building rockets, however, Apple is still special to him. When asked how he felt after he left and if he regretted it he said, “I learned a lot and I am still learning a lot. I do not regret leaving because I have learned more things after I left, however, I am grateful from the time I spent at the company. My goal there was to put them on the positive and make them successful, and I achieved that” (Business Insider).

Scott’s leadership style is definitely a focused and direct one. He went into the company and helped them become successful and in the positive, and for him that was a successful experience. There is no doubt that Michael Scott’s early work in the company really set up the company Apple for early and long term success.

Steve Jobs

According to an article by inc.com, the heart of all Steve Job’s decision making is made by him stating, “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life” (Economy, P.). Jobs was known for his exceptional decision making and never truly feared the consequences because he was a firm believer that everything would work out in the end.

This can be troublesome because when you constantly believe that everything will work out, it usually does not. However, when making decisions, Jobs would check all possible decisions and outcomes. So, his final decision was never decided on a limb. He was known as a very abrasive leader, but he never gave up on his employees. This approach is intimidating as an employee, although it is usually deemed successful. It is proved that when leaders are straightforward, or in this case abrasive, there is less confusion on what is needed. Jobs constantly reminded his employees what the main goal was every step along the way. In a youtube video this ideology is clearly seen when Jobs says, “When you have to walk a thousand miles, you take the first step. It looks like a long way and it really helps when there is someone there saying well we're one step closer. The goal definitely exists… so in 1001 ways the vision needs to be reiterated. I do that a lot” (Cite). As a leader, reminding your workers exactly what is expected of them constantly throughout a project can be tiresome, but it gives them a clear reachable objective.

All of Steve’s employees were always on the same page due to this method. By researching his methods, I have learned that there is a huge difference between micromanaging and making sure that your employees understand what is expected of them, but also giving them the time to space to be creative. I also learned that you must be willing to suffer any consequence from a decision that was made by you. This seems obvious, but as a leader, everything falls back on you and you must always be prepared to tackle the consequences directly and not allow them to be swept under the rug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVLERJ5IdrA

Tim Cook

Tim Cook, is the current CEO for Apple. Tim Cook has been CEO since 2011, after joining the Apple company in 1998. Many people state him as a calm man but very intelligent when it comes to running a business. Though, many questioned his leadership since he was such a timid man. Filling in the role for Steve Jobs, after he passed away, was a huge task for any man. Apple at this time was booming, hitting numbers it hadn't seen before. Though to keep a business alive you have to keep growing and making sure those numbers are increasing. This is where his leadership came into play.

Tim Cook wasn't a perfectionist like Steve Jobs was, which made him a lot more approachable by employees. Investopedia.com went on to say “Cook, on the other hand, continues to seek to achieve excellence at Apple, but he does so with a distinctly different management style. He has made an immediate point to stress transparency and teamwork within the Apple organization. Cook inspires his employees through an open-door policy and by encouraging a collaborative environment at Apple” (Investopedia 2019). Cook had a lot of trust in his employees and really relied on their creativity to create the next big product. Tim Cook has overlooked the Ipad Mini, Ipad Retina, and Ipad Watch. Apple has hit huge numbers since these products have come out and have proved that what Tim Cook was doing with his leadership was working.

In the video below Tim Cook explains how leadership is created outside the business. How you can lead at home or even lead when around a gathering of friends and carry it into your business. He also goes on to say that ethical leadership is making things better than you find them. Many people were worried that the businesses will go down in sales and won't be as successful after Steve Job passing away. Yes, Cook hasn't created as many products as jobs but Cooks is a leader who likes to focus on current projects and try to make them better everyday. For example, the Apple watch as he doesn't create a whole new watch but creates a more updated and better one each year. This is an example of how he makes things better than he found them. Tim Cook is a leader because he doesn't just focus on what he can do to make it better but what he can do to make everyone around him better. When people feel trusted, they’ll trust you back and this is why the business is one of the most successful in the world, credit to the CEO Tim Cook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ygNKNaMv4c

Impactful Leadership

Leadership is something we all strive for. As a group we learned a lot on how impactful leadership is to a business. We chose Apple in the sense that we all knew the product but also because of the famous leaders it has had. Yes, Apple has had many more CEOs and chairman that we could have talked about but these 3 really stood out to us. We all admired the experience Michael Scott had, the passion of Steve Jobs, and Tim Cook's calmness and his ability to trust his team. We all learned a lot in the sense that there isn't just one way to lead a company. We learned that being a leader isn't just telling a group of people to do something but a leader is someone who shapes the way people think and how they should behave.

Over the past 50 years they have been role models for the employees but also role models for us, new upcoming business owners. The difference in management styles has informed us on how being different is what leads to long term effectiveness in a business. Keeping the same leadership will only lead to the same outcome and that isn't what business wants. They are always striving for the next new thing and that is what Apple has done. All in all as a group we all learned a lot from researching these leaders. We learned how impactful they can be but also learned how we can use different leadership styles for our own upcoming businesses.

Economy, P. (2018, March 27). Steve Jobs Used a Remarkably Powerful Decision-Making Strategy That Will Transform Your Business. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/steve-jobs-used-a-remarkably-powerful-decision-making-strategy-that-will-transform-your-business.html

Tim Cook Leads Apple Into A Record-Breaking 2015 (AAPL). (2020, January 29). Retrieved        May 1, 2020, from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/professionals/081715/how-does-tim-cooks-management-style-differ-steve-jobs.asp

Yarow, J. (2011, May 24). EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Apple's First CEO Michael Scott. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/apples-first-ceo-michael-scott-2011-5

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