Tim Cook Case Study

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Many people believe that managers and leaders are one in the same. However, this is not true. If you are put in a position above subordinates it does not mean you carry the same traits that a leader does. Both managers and leaders are crucial to a company’s success. However, they do not provide the same skill set and differ in several areas.
It is easy for leaders to exhibit management skills and for manager to exhibit leadership skills. It is imperative to seek out those skills to develop each person individually, but first to give you some facts to help discern the two positions. Managers are a point of authority for employees. They are typically autocratic in making decisions without much input from their subordinates. The emphasis …show more content…

The obvious difference in the two men are how they conducted themselves in the position of CEO. The article suggests that Jobs was intense, being highly motivated to get things done even to the point of micromanaging his team to keep things on schedule which is somewhat dictator-like or a directive style of leadership. In contrast, Cook represents more of a supportive leadership style. For example, people believe since he came from an operations background that “he behaves more like a coach who trusts his players” (Lashinksky, 2015). Moreover, he was intentional in retaining the high quality management that supported his vision and is building a new campus to allow his people to be creative. Secondly, Cook’s demeanor is to remain himself even when addressing tough subjects as equality and sexual orientation. This may be an area of contention, as these are sensitive subjects that could drive specific groups of consumers away from Apple products. He leads charismatically, and appears to want to be transparent as not to hide anything. For example, Cook stated in the article, “It’s okay to be yourself. You don’t have to lead with it. But you don’t have to hide it either” (Lashinsky, 2015). Whereas, Jobs avoided the spotlight wanting to keep to himself and have no sway in controversial topics. Thirdly, Jobs did …show more content…

However, in hindsight employees and shareholders are finding that Cooks’ vision and approach are what the company has needed. In addition, he allows employees more power to be part of the decisions and solutions for Apple’s future endeavors. There is no doubt the line between a manager and leader can be seen in the difference of Cook and Jobs where one was a driving force for product production and the other a visionary hoping to keep Apple in the top ranks of personal

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