This week's perspective from Joe Chidley: Leadership transitions for any company, of any size, can be very delicate situations, but they are doubly so for a company like Apple Inc. After all, the popularity of its product line – and of its shares on the stock market – are intrinsically linked to the cult of personality around one man: co-founder Steve Jobs. So when Jobs announced this week that he was stepping down from his job as CEO (for which he earns $1 a year – a salary that only adds to his corporate mystique), it was a moment fraught with risk for Apple in the eyes of customers, investors, media and employees. But Jobs & Co. pulled it off by managing the announcement in a way appropriate to both the man and the company. First, it was made by Jobs himself, through a letter to the board and the Apple community. Second, he addressed the succession question head-on, “strongly” recommending to the board “that we execute our succession plan and name [COO] Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.” Good wording, communicating advance planning, continuity and, most importantly, no surprises. Almost in the same breath, the Apple board issued a statement announcing Cook as CEO and expressing absolute confidence in his abilities. By being prepared with their messaging and showing themselves to be all on the same page, Jobs and the board appeared in full control of the situation – which is probably the most vital message you can send in a time of flux. The upshot: the media for the most part was busy writing panegyrics to Jobs but wasted little ink fretting over Apple’s future, and the stock went down merely 2% the next day amid an overall market decline 1.5%. To me, Apple just wrote a case study in how to manage a leadership transition. Touchdown. (And good luck, Mr. Jobs.)
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