5 Leadership Lessons from Apple CEO Tim Cook | Inc. — Transcript

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1. 0:00(upbeat music)
2. 0:06- [Narrator] Tim Cook famously doesn't crave the spotlight.
3. 0:09But as CEO of Apple, he also can't escape it.
4. 0:12It's Tim Cook's job to lead
5. 0:14the most valuable company in the world.
6. 0:16And it's under that leadership that Apple has seen
7. 0:18the most extraordinary growth of any company
8. 0:20over the past decade.
9. 0:21It's with this wealth of experience
10. 0:23and success that Cook is able to provide some great insights
11. 0:26and success that Cook is able to provide some great insights
12. 0:27for leaders about stewarding an organization.
13. 0:29We've gathered five lessons that can benefit everyone
14. 0:32from Cook's leadership style.
15. 0:34Number one, diversity of leadership.
16. 0:37Diversity isn't just an HR buzzword.
17. 0:40In fact, a plurality of backgrounds among your employees
18. 0:43can actually help the revenue of your company.
19. 0:46The idea behind this philosophy is that people
20. 0:48bring lots of different experiences to the table.
21. 0:51And companies that can harness the most amount
22. 0:53of creative experiences will be more innovative
23. 0:56in their approach to business.
24. 0:58"We want diversity of thought." he says.
25. 1:01"We want diversity of style.
26. 1:03We want people to be themselves.
27. 1:05It's this great thing about Apple.
28. 1:06You don't have to be somebody else.
29. 1:08You don't have to put on a face when you go to work
30. 1:11and be something different.
31. 1:12But the thing that ties us all
32. 1:14is we're brought together by values.
33. 1:16We wanna do the right thing.
34. 1:18We wanna be honest and straightforward.
35. 1:20We admit when we're wrong
36. 1:21and we have the courage to change."
37. 1:23Number two, transparency is key.
38. 1:27Cook knew transparency would be key to leadership.
39. 1:30With harsh criticism about the standards
40. 1:32of Apple's global employees,
41. 1:34he opened the doors and invited the world see
42. 1:36how Apple operates.
43. 1:37how apple operates.
44. 1:37By doing this,
45. 1:38he not only created Goodwill around the company
46. 1:41but set industry standards for other manufacturers.
47. 1:44"Our transparency and supplier responsibility
48. 1:47is an example of recognizing
49. 1:49that the more transparent we are
50. 1:50the bigger difference we would make."
51. 1:52We wanna be as innovative with supplier responsibility
52. 1:55as we are with our products.
53. 1:56That's a high bar.
54. 1:58The more transparent we are,
55. 1:59the more it's in the public space."
56. 2:02Number three, listen to your customers.
57. 2:05If anything, it humbles you.
58. 2:08You think you understand your customers, but do you?
59. 2:11Even Tim Cook, head of the world's most valuable company
60. 2:14carves out time to walk around company stores
61. 2:16and read customer emails.
62. 2:18Cook says, "I'll walk around our stores.
63. 2:21You can learn a tremendous amount in a store.
64. 2:24I get a lot of emails and so forth,
65. 2:26but it's a different dimension when you're in a store
66. 2:28and talking to customers face-to-face.
67. 2:31You get the vibe of a place.
68. 2:33Not allowing yourself to become insular is very important.
69. 2:36Maybe the most important thing, I think as a CEO."
70. 2:40Number four, you can only do a few things great.
71. 2:45Considering the size of apple,
72. 2:46it's pretty remarkable to think about how few products
73. 2:49the company actually creates.
74. 2:51I mean, if you really look at it
75. 2:53we have four iPods.
76. 2:55We have two main iPhones.
77. 2:56We have two iPads and we have a few Macs, that's it.
78. 3:00The point is to focus on what you do best
79. 3:03and do it the best you can.
80. 3:06"We argue and debate like crazy about what we're gonna do
81. 3:09because we know we can only do a few things great.
82. 3:12At the right time, we'll keep disrupting
83. 3:15and we'll keep discovering new things
84. 3:16that people didn't know they wanted."
85. 3:18And number five, admitting you're wrong.
86. 3:21Ultimately Cook's advice for entrepreneurs and CEOs
87. 3:25is advice that's pretty helpful for everyone.
88. 3:27"So many people, particularly I think, CEOs
89. 3:31and top executives, they get so planted in their old ideas
90. 3:35and they refuse or don't have the courage
91. 3:37to admit that they're now wrong.
92. 3:40Maybe the most under appreciated thing about Steve,
93. 3:43was that he had the courage to change his mind.
94. 3:45And you know, it's a talent."