The Ripple In The Pond
This morning I was watching CBS Sunday Morning, which we believe is the best of the Sunday morning news magazine shows. They are interviewing Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, the guy who had to fill the very big shoes of Steve Jobs a dozen years ago. He has presided over a 9X growth of Apple to being a $3 Trillion company, the largest company in the world. That means that he has very much filled those very big shoes and then some. I can’t imagine a shareholder of Apple feeling anything but good about what Tim Cook has brought to them at Apple with a compound average return of over 20% on their investment. That means that he has been commercially successful. But more than that, he seems to be the kind of CEO all major companies should have, he shows concern for the major issues of the day, ranging from climate change, first and foremost, all the way to the broader array of social issues that are so important to the youth of America and which the MAGA crowd likes to call Woke. What is most compelling about his attitude is that he rightly believes that you can do well (commercially) while doing good (socially). He used an expression when asked about his importance to the process of Apple’s ongoing success on all fronts. He used a not uncommon expression in saying that he likes to be the ripple in the pond, which is his way of saying that he recognizes that Apple cannot save the world all on its own, but that if it leads by example and those examples are equally achievable by others, that he can, indeed, have a magnified impact by being an initial ripple in the pond that generates other ripples and more positive impact than it can as a single (even though quite big) company.
When someone asks me from now on what we should look for in our leaders, I will reference Tim Cook because corporate leadership is not so very different than broader governmental leadership. The selfless and humble nature of Tim Cook is a wonderful example of what we need more of in America and the world. I am sure that Tim Cook is less than perfect and that he, like all of us, has a flat side to him, but it is his genuinely thoughtful and caring approach that distinguishes him. It goes without saying that Tim Cook inherited quite an important juggernaut in taking over a company like Apple that had been created and grown by Steve Jobs. Jobs had lots of good entrepreneurial chops and clearly had a set of product visions that have changed our collective lives, but I would be hesitant to say that his leadership style, though inspired in many ways, was what we need in our leaders at a national or global level. There was far too much ego and pride imbedded in the Jobs persona that seems to be absent in Tim Cook. That might mean that Cook might never have been able to bootstrap an Apple from the garage to the world stage the way Jobs did, but the nation and the world are not a start-up or even a reboot. These are complex systems that require thoughtful and enlightened leadership that can actually place its own needs and wants way down on the list and ultimately do what’s right for the general population.
I just got a call from a friend who has served in a very significant political capacity and has far more influence on the national stage than anyone I know. He called to talk about motorcycling but I used the opportunity when that issue had run its course, to ask about his views of what would likely happen over the next year on the political front. His answer and where he is putting his efforts reminded me that what I like about the man is that he really is a lot like Tim Cook in his own way. He is professionally and commercially successful, but has wanted to lend his leadership skills to a broader need in the governance of the nation. He has shown me that on the critical issues of the day, he is more about aligning himself with the wishes of the people in general rather than some idiosyncratic views of his own. To me that is what distinguishes a true and valuable leader from the excuse for leadership that is being put forth, especially from the Republican side, these days.
It brings to mind my visit a few weeks ago by my friend the retired four-star Marine Corps General. The thing I always admired the most about him over the years and that gave me the most hope about the leadership of our military, was the selflessness of the man’s call to duty. There is nothing venal or corrupt about him and his intentions have always struck me as pure and genuine in the same way that Tim Cook seems to me as a leader. Good leaders put their people and the good of the planet first and succeed in gaining both fame and fortune by doing what’s right. Not all great leaders are worth $2 Billion like Tim Cook is, and some start out with billions like my motorcycling friend or never get close to that kind of wealth like my military friend, so I don’t think money and wealth are at all the measure of the man. I can say that I do not begrudge Tim Cook his wealth and that I am glad that my motorcycle buddy is using his wealth in a meaningful way on the political playing field, but I think that wealth is truly incidental to the value proposition of great leadership.
The Lingua Franca or common currency of effective leadership is perhaps best measured in positive impact. I have to add the word positive because it is clear that bad leadership also has impact, just not the kind we admire. Therefore, I will amend that measure by suggesting that the best leading indicator of effective leadership is humility and selflessness. If a person has those two qualities, it does not insure success as a leader, but they are sine qua non to effective leadership. As they say, perhaps necessary but not sufficient. What leads to sufficiency seems to me to be the ability to find the right force multiplier that allows their inherent strategy to be adopted widely, both within their direct realm and beyond. In many ways, that was said best by Tim Cook in his analogy that he wants to be a ripple in the pond. He wants others to see the benefit of his strategy and actions and to take up the cause on their own, following his example. The idea of leading by example is not new, but it is more rare than we might expect. Do what I say, not what I do, simply doesn’t cut it in the leadership arena. People can detect bullshit from far away and most often choose to steer clear of it. But people also see genuine value in a leader that follows his own beliefs and shows others the way that both works for him and can work for them.
We are at a critical crossroads as a nation and as a world. We are in desperate need of leadership that can do for us like Tim Cook has done for Apple. These leaders need not be bigger than life, but rather can be simple and genuine people that have their priorities and perspectives aligned properly to serve the vast majority of the people they serve. I would challenge us all to think in terms of what sort of ripples we want in our pond and then how we can each help expand on those ripples for the greater good of us all.