Cook Jobs Apple Ceo People Good Leave Work

Many companies "engage in" (are involved in) "succession planning," trying to identify "new talent" (people who are good in a particular field or in a particular type of job) and groom those individuals to "assume" (take; accept) leadership positions as older leaders retire or "otherwise" (in some other way) leave the organization.

Apple's "esteemed" (greatly admired and respected) co-founder, Steve Jobs, "resigned" (said that he would no longer work in his job) as "CEO" (chief executive officer) in August 2011, but he and the company had a succession plan. As he resigned, he strongly recommended that Tim Cook be named the next Apple CEO while Jobs would remain Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Cook already had a long history with Apple. Jobs "hired him away from" (gave him a job offer so he would leave his current company) in 1998. Cook made many good business decisions and he was promoted to "COO" (chief operating officer) in 2007.

Apple also gave Cook a "trial run" (a test; an opportunity to prove that something or someone can succeed) in 2004. Jobs took a "leave of absence" (a temporary period of time when one does not work for a company) for health reasons. During that two-month period, Cook served as the "interim" (temporary) CEO of Apple. He did so again in 2009 and 2011 when Jobs took additional leaves of absence for health reasons.

When Jobs resigned in August 2011, the company and "shareholders" (people who own stock in Apple) had already observed his performance as CEO and had "confidence" (a belief that something will succeed) in his abilities. So far, the succession plan has been a success with a "smooth" (without major problems) transition of power.