Tim Cook has said he is not interfering in the work of Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, after stepping down from the top job in September. Although Cook remains a public face of Apple, he says he is giving his successor the freedom to run the business in his own way. In an interview with The Independent, Cook explained that he and Ternus share a strong relationship built on trust and regular communication.
“First of all, John and I have an incredible level of trust in each other,” Cook said. He explained that good communication is important, but his main responsibility now is to work on policy matters around the world.
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He added that he is ready to support Ternus whenever needed, but does not want to interfere with his decisions. “I’m….. helping John in any way he sees fit. I’m not meddling. I’m not a meddler,” Cook said.
Cook also shared the advice he gave Ternus. He encouraged the new CEO to focus on areas where he could make the biggest difference instead of trying to follow his predecessor’s style.
Cook said he told Ternus to “make it your own job. Put your time in the things that you can add the most value to around the company. And that means don’t mimic me. Just like I didn’t mimic Steve. We all have different strengths.”
Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, had a very different leadership style, and Cook developed his own way of running the company.
Cook also said the leadership change had been planned for years. He described his goal as making the change “the best transition ever, a textbook example that people could look back to and learn from.” “I think everything has gone sort of exactly the way I had envisioned it.”
Ternus took charge at a time when Apple was preparing new products. He introduced the iPhone Duo just days after becoming CEO. Cook said he wanted “John to have some wind at his back.”