I must admit, many CEO’s don’t have that good a reputation today. There’s one report say the average CEO makes 250+ times that of average American wage earners. But I got a different side of one of the most powerful CEO’s today.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was awarded an IQLA (International Quality of Life Award) back in December 2013 for using Apple products to improve the life of people worldwide. Two stories in his speech that night impacted me. The first took place while growing up in Alabama during the 1960s- early ’70s, a place and time of social change. While riding his bike, he passed by a cross burning in front of an African American family home. That family’s humiliation never left Mr. Cook’s mind, and fueled his quest for civil rights and human dignity ever since. The other story was about an email he received from a single mother of an autistic toddler. The iPad the toddler received gave him an outlet he didn’t have before.
This is what drives Mr. Cook: computer technology that can break such barriers. We need to hear more stories like these.? We need to be reminded what we do and build and fix actually impacts peoples’ lives for the better. It should never be just about the dollar bill, but about the human race. Now we can be cynical and tell ourselves things like, “The only reason they say these things is to touch our human side to buy more of their stuff and get our money.”? But let me just daydream for a minute. Wouldn’t it be cool if every CEO sincerely let their human side out?
Disclaimer: This is not an endorsement or promotion of the Apple brand.