Steve Jobs Taught Tim Cook A ‘Brilliant’ Skill That Only ‘Few People Have’ But The Apple Chief Took A While To Fall In Love With It – Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Apple AAPL co-founder Steve Jobs made it a rule to rethink decisions instantly when new facts surfaced, a habit he drilled into future CEO Tim Cook before naming him his successor.

What Happened: Cook later, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal back in October 2024, called the skill “brilliant” and said “very few people have it,” crediting Jobs for teaching him never to stay “married to my past views” once better evidence appeared.

“[I learned] not to be so proud you can’t change your mind when you’re presented with new evidence,” explained Cook. Cook says Jobs could pivot instantly, changing his mind in a snap — a skill that first startled him. Over time, Cook grew to love this trait.

Jobs’s readiness to pivot rested on sharp emotional intelligence — the ability to read, interpret and manage feelings to reach a goal. Biographer Walter Isaacson wrote that Jobs could “size people up, understand their inner thoughts, and hurt them at will,” proving that the same EQ that fuels inspiration can also manipulate.

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Many who’ve worked with Jobs say that duality made him someone whose intensity frightened colleagues yet fueled Apple’s comeback from near-bankruptcy. The practice also mirrors Amazon.com Inc. AMZN founder Jeff Bezos’s advice that “people who are right a lot change their mind a lot,” a principle behavioral scientists link to better strategic judgment.

Why It Matters: On the topic of Jobs’ leadership cues that few tend to emulate, former iPhone designer Jony Ive once mentioned how he learnt relentless focus from the Apple co-founder. Ive, who called Jobs “the most remarkably focused person” he had ever met, said this simple trait isn’t something people can sprinkle at will but an “every-minute” discipline.

Jobs’ energy and focus also inspired Salesforce Inc. CRM CEO Marc Benioff, who credits a key 2010 conversation with Jobs for shaping the focused product strategy that helped build his company’s $250 billion market capitalization.

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