Tim Cook recently recalled the moment when Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs wanted Cook to take over as CEO of the company. In a recent interview with CBS, Tim Cook said Jobs invited him to his home and explained that he wanted Cook to lead the company in the future. During that conversation, Jobs also gave him advice on how to approach the role. Cook said Jobs told him to “never ask what I would do — just do the right thing.” According to Tim Cook, that guidance helped him focus on leading the company in his own way rather than trying to copy Jobs’ decisions.“It was such a gift for me, because he took off my shoulder this question of ‘What would Steve do?’” Cook said. “I just put my head down and thought, I’m going to be the best version of myself.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook: “We argue and debate everything”

The interview comes as Apple nears its 50th anniversary. During the conversation, Tim Cook also reflected on what has stayed the same since the founding days of the company. “we argue and debate everything” at meetings, Cook stated. “It’s not possible to replicate it,” he said. “I know a lot of different companies, and I think Apple is just in a party of one.”“I think this dates back to the creation of the company,” Cook told CBS. “This idea that collaboration and bringing together people with different lenses and different viewpoints on things and putting them in a rock tumbler and turning it to see what comes out. I think that was the [case] from the founding days of the company, and it’s still the case today.”During the discussion, Cook said that culture “creates the innovation with the intellectual property.” “I think it’s very difficult to replicate culture,” Cook said. “It takes a long time, because you have to hire the right people. And then those people have to hire the right people, and you have to build a complete organization,” he stated.