“Tim Cook had the toughest act to follow in all of Silicon Valley; he stepped into a corner office at Apple that was previously occupied by an industry legend. He doesn’t speak publicly often, but Cook’s favorite words and phrases — many of which were heard during this week’s Goldman Sachs tech conference — reveal a lot about the man, his company’s challenges, and his leadership skills,” Chris Maxcer writes for MacNewsWorld.
“Apple CEO Tim Cook is growing on me… The guy doesn’t pull out wild words. He uses small words and speaks in phrases. He repeats himself often. The words he chooses don’t make anyone think that he’s a particularly imaginative or creative guy — at least not in a traditional sense. Not in a Steve Jobs sense,” Maxcer writes. “Yet Cook manages to exude skill, discipline, and — most important — joy.”
Maxcer writes, “I think that’s important. I think that’s critical to Apple’s health. Cook is becoming something far more than an operational genius. To get here with me, though, you’ll have to read between the lines. You’ll have to respect that Cook isn’t going to reveal a new inexpensive iPhone with a big screen. The answers are in some of the phrases, words, and messages that actually mean something about the health and vision of Apple — not the stock price, but the foundation of Apple.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Sarah” for the heads up.]
Me thinks all of this is pure shite.
Yup, this article explains why through this stock turmoil, its easy to sleep peacefully and still hold a large percentage of your portfolio in Apple. I think Apple will eventually change, but not in the first generation of post Jobs managers.
Well, he is writing for Mac News World! I think Tim Cook may be a very good behind the scenes manager but I believe Apple needs someone out front with a little more charisma. No one is going to be another Steve jobs but it doesn’t mean that Apple couldn’t have a happier face. Perception matters. Sure, fundamentals are fundamentally important but the public needs someone to keep their interest up during slow times. This would be one of those slow times. And Apple is transitioning into a value investment rather than a growth investment. It will have its moments when new products are released but at this price level it can’t go straight up in the future. Dividends will matter. Competition is getting fierce. Apple needs a salesman. They certainly had one in Steve Jobs previously. He knew the value of pushing products and did it masterfully. If Apple needed it then you can bet that they really need it now. Apple had a very smug attitude back then but they still had Steve jobs out there telling you how good the next thing they’re working on is going to be. That is missing now. Now they just have the smug attitude.
You want a Sham-Wow salesman?
What distinguishes Apple is its products. Yes, Steve Jobs was a salesman, but that wasn’t what made Apple great.
Want to hear glowing promises? Go to a used car lot for those.
Or the Microsoft store …
You’ve got it right. A sales guy is all Apple needs, just like that guy in Redmond.
“Perception matters.”
I’ve taught people in dealing with customers/public/whatever that perception is reality for a great many people. I’ve defended Cook a lot, but can’t deny the truth of what you’ve said here. It is time for some wiz-bang! He needs a good ol’ communications class and acting coach before his next big announcement. Not just the next appearance – Goldman Sachs got what they needed from him, but the announcement of the iPhone 5+ (or whatever truly new device is up next) needs some *wow* factor on stage.
Apple needs Regis Philban as their shill, that should do it.
I never could stand Regis. I know many did/do, but not me. It sounds like you’re not really a fan either. 🙂
SJB : Perception does matter. You’re correct. Not everyone is good at public speaking. Some can improve with help, others not so much. Tim could truly use help in that area. But you would think that a company as big and wealthy as Apple would think of something like that? And maybe they have. Perhaps what you see is a great improvement? Or perhaps no one wants to tell the CEO that he is dull and uninspiring? I’m not criticizing him rather I’m saying that Apple could use someone with a little more energy to push their product occasionally. Steve Jobs could have sold a lot of Sham-Wows! It’s funny, I didn’t see all the people who are critical of you and I complaining when Steve Jobs was giving his presentations. Nope. Where were they then? Steve Jobs’s presentations helped Apple sell products. Would they have been just as happy to have seen Steve simply sit in the front row and let Tim Cook do the presentation? Of course not. But now they want to act as though someone who gives a great presentation is a silly idea. How fucking idiotic is that? Therefore their comments are unsubstantiated. Without merit. And are simply defensive comments from apparently fanboys. I don’t get it? It makes no sense. Why would anyone come on here and go against a logical comment like they’re a pissed off 10-year-old schoolboy? If you aren’t gushing about Apple you’re a troll. If you speak honestly about Apple you’re a troll. It sure doesn’t take much to bring them out of the basement. It’s so funny.
@Bill – Sham-Wow? No, nothing that obnoxious. And yes, the products are what sell, but do you remember hearing about Jobs’ RDF? That Reality Distortion Field around him made you want the product before he even told you what it would do. The build up and hype are important. Leaving one sitting in a bar a few weeks before announcement isn’t nearly as effective as good stage presence at the announcement.
@sh1 – That guy in Redmond is an idiot gorilla. Cook may not be charismatic, but he isn’t an idiot. Meaningless jumping around on stage isn’t what we’re looking for here.
I still like Cook, but it is time for a little excitement from him.
But at the same time, you shouldn’t push him to be something he’s not.
I don’t see Cook as a guy who can keep you on the edge of your seat with his words like Steve could. If you tried to mold him into that, I think you would end up with someone who smaked of nothing but ‘fake’
I think the best salesman for Apple by far is Steve Ballmer.
You just keep making your Surface and the irrelevant Win8 and imitating monkeys and spouting rubbish Stevieboy and all Tim Cook has to do is appear normal.
The very best answer to all the hype, all the speculation, all the stock market manipulation, all the “competition” from Microsoft & VacuumDroid is to keep on doing what Apple do best – make great products that people will be willing to pay good money for and the rest will mostly take care of itself.
Propping him up with this nonsense won’t change a thing. We need him out of there so Apple can launch a new era and get the company going again.
Look past your prejudices, please! Steve was a harsh guy. Tim is a joyous and compassionate person. People who worked for Steve worked in fear that they wouldn’t measure up. It was an expensive way to live your life. Tim is demanding but not in a way that tears you apart with worry. Look at all the things Tim has changed about the company that celebrate the employees and all they are trying to do, not solely in their work lives. Under Steve charitable contributions were a choice individuals gave from their own financial situation, period. Under Tim the company matches their donations.
Under Steve you were the puppy that ran 40 miles for a biscuit: When you got that biscuit it was the best thing you had ever tasted, but you quickly realized you were exhausted. That led to creative and talented people leaving because the equation wasn’t balanced. Under Tim you know you’ve done something amazing, because he tells you so early and often, not after a 40 mile run. I believe a lot of creative talent is going to be staying at Apple because of this change in executive culture.
Keep in mind that Apple is very focused on a few great products, so creative people who see an opportunity for a product Apple won’t do are tempted to go do it on their own or for someone else. In general that’s fine, but under Steve that was more common, IMO, because “it just ain’t worth the s&%t anymore” was your realization around mile marker 35. Working in a place that values you and your creativity and your outlook on life can give you the mental resilience to push through the next 5 miles.
And that’s going to mean really good things for Apple and their customers.
+10 for someone who gets it
You said it best.
You know, Peterson, you denigrate Cook constantly on this forum, but as best I can tell, you have absolutely no credentials or experience for doing so. For all we know, you live in your mom’s basement, living on a diet of Cheetos. As for Cook himself, he has distinguished himself as a true genius at operations, and as a principled and committed leader for Apple’s 60,000 employees. Please tell us EXACTLY about the elements of YOUR resume that would give us reason to pay any attention to your comments on how to run the world’s most valuable public company.
Mom’s basement in Korea maybe. ppeterson is a full fledged card carrying Samedung apologista, not just a mere Apple bashing troll.
What do you mean by new era, why? And get going to where? What NEW things you think you need? Why?
Folks, I’m just acknowledging the reality staring us all in the face. The price of AAPL has collapsed. Every time Tim appears in public to address the future of the company, the stock drops some more. Every time he talks about “great new products” in the pipeline, Wall Street doesn’t believe him because he’s been saying that over and over and over and all we’ve got is some tweaked gadgets that still lag behind inferior, cheaper plastic gadgets made by everybody else. If you think investors are going to reward that kind of “performance” from a publicly held company’s CEO, you don’t understand Wall Street. I talk about a new era under new management because that’s the only thing I see that will turn things around. What do you see in the FUTURE that dispels my conclusion? Talk of the company’s performance yesterday is absolutely of no interest to investors. It’s all about tomorrow and, with Tim at the helm, tomorrow never comes.
Wow, you really are a completely clueless troll living in his mom’s basement in Korea. If there was anything that Steve Jobs did not give a single crap about it was stock price, which is the only point you are making. You either don’t know or pretend not to know that Apple’s stock price has periodically rolled back by 15% to 25% over the last 13 years (the time I have been a stockholder) and I guarantee you that Steve Jobs didn’t give a shit. His hand-picked successor, Tim Cook, seems equally uninterested. What Apple does care about is making great products, and I doubt seriously that you’d find many people who think Apple’s products are inferior to anybody’s cheap plastic gadgets. It is that focus that keeps stockholders like me securely invested in AAPL for the long haul.
if Tim didn’t care about the STOCK PRICE?
why did he speak at Goldman Sachs: A STOCK INVESTORS conference?
Tim’s speech might have been ok if he was speaking at a tech conference like Macworld or AllThingsD (which the writer the article confuses this for) , but at an INVESTORS conference like G. Sachs what he said gave no confidence to big investors (you can NOT dispute what I’ve said simply because it’s shown by the dropping share price AFTER the investors conference. Tim had a golden opportunity but failed to convince the big guys, a handful of small investors like yourself liking his speech means zero. )
some people also don’t get this:
big funds control 70% of apple stock
funds don’t really care about HISTORY (forum commentators here at MDN here keep saying “if you’ve invested in 2000 you’ve made 5000% ” etc is MEANLINGLESS to a fund)
Funds (and their clients) only care about making money NOW or in the future.
Cook has failed to convince them
Funds also do no really care HOW MUCH MONEY OR HOW INNOVATIVE , OR HOW MUCH SALES ETC a company has IF THEY the funds DO NOT SHARE IN THE GAIN.
they can share only by rising share price or dividends. The share price has fallen 40% and aapl dividends compared to other tech companies is tiny
there is no point telling a fund that we’ve added xyz Billions to our cash pile WHEN the stock price has fallen 40% and there is no news of increase dividends.
so big investors are pissed off.
Most of them are not pissed off enough to fight or as reports indicate they just pulled out their money (instead of fighting by making motions )
But eventually if Apple or Cook does not turn the stock price up or increase dividends then I believe the big funds (which I say hold 70% of apple stock) will act.
And for those people who say shareholders are powerless and don’t ‘actually own the company’, note Shareholders (via the Board whom they elect) have removed the CEO’s of Acer, Palm, Nokia, Rim, HP etc due to falling share price etc (and these are just the list of TECH companies).
a fund with 100 million in aapl last year and didn’t sell and now only has 60+ million left isn’t going to sit idly around if the share price doesn’t rebound of if Cook doesn’t convince them it will in the long term.
(if Tim doesn’t give a shit like Ralph M about the stock the stock holders will remove him. Jobs could say he didn’t worry about the stock price because every year there was substantial gain in the price. So lets see if there’s going to be a big gain from 400+ this year).
Thankfully Tim understands that what large institutional investment houses want is not going to help Apple. So as open and forthright as you are being about what they want, so Tim is being open and forthright about what Apple is going to do. If you don’t believe in what Tim and team are going to do, don’t invest in them.
It should not go unnoticed that the big selloff didn’t diminish the level of institutional ownership of Apple one bit. Have you asked yourself how that can be if all of Wall Street is unhappy with the course Apple is on? Because what really happened is that when some sold, some bought. Those who don’t like where Apple is heading sold, and those who do like where they’re heading bought.
those people who bought back bought at 40% lower than it was just a few months ago.
the simple fact that Cook’s speech at an investors conference (which should be to push back up the stock price) didn’t convince many new people (stock has fallen 3-4% since he gave his talk.
I believe many holders are waiting for the shareholders meeting Feb 27 to see anything new plus waiting for the dividend payout before acting.
——
note: I’m not critizing Cook for not bringing the profits, he is, or not putting out good new stuff (Mt. Lion, iPad mini etc) but his lack of SALESMANSHIP (P.R or whatever you call it) in fighting back the negative B.S that is whacking the stock. CNBC is headlining shows with “Can anything save Apple” and my local newspaper prefaces every article (which it is getting from wire services like Reuters) on Apple as “the Failling Tech Giant which is rapidly losing to Samsung” etc. Apple’s P.E ex cash is stupid half of the SP 500 average (which has many half dead companies).
Calling me names and trashing me is stupid. Stupid is as stupid does. Your further comment never counters my conclusions. Talking about what was done at Apple yesteryear is a total waste of time. What Steve did and whether or not he gave a shit is irrelevant. Steve did say making great products was his focus and that all the rest – such as profits and the value of AAPL – would take care of themselves. And it did. That was then, this is now. Tim Cook has no plan for the future. No great new products – just rumors of stuff that we will never see. Even if he produces a TV or a watch or a larger screen phone, it won’t move AAPL. Until new management arrives, Wall Street will continue to show little interest in the future of the company.