Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about Steve Jobs, Walt Disney
Steve Jobs had another iconic business leader in mind as he contemplated turning over the reins of Apple Inc. to his successor, Tim Cook.
When Apple’s ailing chief executive and co-founder called Cook to his home to discuss the leadership transition that took place in August 2011, Jobs talked about the executive paralysis at theWalt Disney Co.after the death of the studio’s revered founder.
“He said that people would go to meetings and conference rooms, and they would all sit around and talk about what would Walt have done? What decision would Walt make?” Cook recalled Tuesday in an interview during the Wall Street Journal‘s D: All Things Digital Conference. “He looked at me with those intense eyes that only he had, and he told me to never do that, to never ask what he would do. Just do what’s right.”
-- Dawn C. Chmielewski