Tim Cook，COO of Apple
Auburn University May 14th，2010
Life has a habit of throwing you curve balls.
生活就像被抛出的曲线球，你永远不能完全确定他的轨迹。
Tim Cook
背景故事
一个看似乏味、拿着MBA文凭的管理者，一度做出了25年的人生规划的人，却在遇到乔布斯后，抛开一切，毅然地加入当时业绩惨淡的苹果，最终成为新一代苹果教主——他就是Tim Cook。他说：“如果你想和我一样挣脱桎梏、活得精彩，就去他的人生规划吧！”
“永远活在当下，不仅仅因为我的父母为我牺牲了很多本不该牺牲的东西；与此同时，我的老师、教授、朋友以及导师都给予了我太多的关怀，而苹果公司和乔布斯则让我在此度过了我人生中最有意义的12年。”
这些都是苹果首席运营官（COO）Tim Cook在应其母校美国阿拉巴马州奥本大学（Auburn University）之邀发表演讲时讲到的。库克在演讲中分享了他与乔布斯的五分钟面谈，相信自己的直觉并决定加入苹果公司的经历。库克是在乔布斯于1997年重返苹果后，于1998年从Compaq挖角而来。根据库克自己的说法，加入苹果的决定全凭直觉，完全与其他友人的劝告和本身理性的分析相违背，但他认为加入苹果是他此生迄今为止所做过的最佳决定。
对于这个在乔布斯的巨大光环之下的苹果CEO，到底是怎样的一个CEO呢？也许从他的演讲中可以一窥究竟：
名人简介
蒂姆·库克（Tim D.Cook）是苹果现任首席执行官。曾担任苹果公司首席运营官，负责苹果公司的全球销售和运营，包括终端到终端的苹果的供应链、销售活动、服务和在所有市场和国家的支持下进行管理。他还领导苹果公司的Macintosh部门并发挥在战略分销商和供应商关系中的关键作用，确保应对日益苛刻的市场的灵活性。库克在阿拉巴马州奥本大学主修工业工程，然后在杜克大学获得企业管理硕士学位。1998年苹果公司聘请蒂姆·库克负责苹果电脑的制造。在苹果期间，库克管理库存与供应链，并成为乔布斯下的苹果二号人物。此前，库克已经拥有16年IT业从业经验。
演讲赏析
Prepare and Your Chance Will Come
Tim Cook，COO of Apple
Auburn University May 14th，2010
“Every year，Auburn University sends a new outstanding pool of graduates into society.Many of these alums become some of the brightest and blessed employees-senior executives，business owners，entrepreneurs，leaders in their fields.One such an alumnus is with us today as our commencement speaker.
Tim Cook graduated from Auburn in 1982with a degree of Industrial Engineering.Since that time，his drive and ingenuity have led him to become one of the top executives in the country.Chief Operating Officer，for Apple Incorporated.Mr.Cook has been on the forefront of this revolutionary company in an ever-changing industry，impacting lives of billions of people across the world.
Graduates，so I wanna ask you a question：How many of you own or have ever owned an iPad，an iPod，an iPhone or an iMac？I want a hand.The decisions that Mr.Cook makes as part of Apple’s leadership determines the success of Apple‘s worldwide sales and operations.I would say you’ve made good decisions，Mr.Cook.
He not only motivates and inspires his fellow employees，but he‘s been known to show his Auburn proud and spirit around Apple headquarters.Mr.Cook has sat where you are sitting today.He knows the importance of good education.And he believes and giving back to his Alma mater so that future students can also fulfill their dreams.Please welcome with me Auburn’s honored alumnus-Tim Cook.”
“Thank you for that nice reception and thank you Virginia for the incredible introduction.I thought some of them were about somebody else.It‘s a tremendous honor and a privilege for me to be here with all of you.To be back to a place that really feels like home to me，and to be back to a place that brings back so many fond memories.Auburn has played a key role in my life and continues to mean a lot to me，as anyone who comes in my office at Apple or my home in Palo Alto instantly discovers.I have so much Auburn memorabilia you might think it was a California outpost for J&M or Anders.
As thrilled as I am to be here，I stand before you knowing that the lives of many people here and even more across our state and beyond are deeply affected by the tragedy off our shores.I grew up on the Gulf Coast and my family still lives there and I want you to know that my thoughts and hopes are with you.
Also as thrilled as I am to be here，I stand before you with a deep sense of humility both because of how I got here and who is here.I am where I am in life because my parents sacrificed more than they should have.Because of teachers，professors，friends and mentors who cared more than they had to.And because of Steve Jobs and Apple who have provided me the opportunity to engage in truly meaningful work every day for over 12years.And I know that I’m offering words of advice in front of a faculty whose ideas and research positively impact our lives.And I do so in a gathering where the faculty is complemented by the hard-won wisdom of so many parents，grandparents and even great-grandparents that have been a source of incredible inspiration for today‘s graduates.
So bearing all that in mind，I’ll share some personal discoveries with you that have at least served me well，discoveries based on this most improbable of journeys that I have been on.
My most significant discovery so far in my life was the result of one single decision：My decision to join Apple.Working at Apple was never in any plan that I‘d outlined for myself，but was without a doubt the best decision that I ever made.There have been other important decisions in my life，like my decision to come to Auburn.When I was in high school，some teachers advised me to attend Auburn，other teachers advised me to attend the university of Alabama and，well，like I said some decisions are pretty obvious.The decision to come to Apple which I made in early 1998was not so obvious.Since most of you graduates were 10years old at the time，you may not realize that the Apple in early 1998was very different than the Apple of today.In 1998there was no iPad or iMac or iPhone，there wasn’t even an iPod-I know it‘s hard to imagine life without iPods.While Apple did make Macs，the company had been losing sales for years and was commonly considered to be on the verge of extinction.Only a few months before I’d accepted the job at Apple，Michael Dell，the founder and CEO of Dell Computer，was publicly asked what he would do to fix Apple，and he responded”I‘d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.“In making this statement what distinguished Michael Dell was only that he had the courage to say what so many others believed.