As is so common in sports, the head coach or manager gets too much blame when the team is losing and also too much credit when they are playing well.
So true (and same can be said of presidents), but it's hard to associate an organization with more than one figurehead (Who's the CEO of Microsoft? What about the CEO of Dell?)
Apple (new and old, and Pixar; NeXT was the only ?) has done well under the leadership of Jobs, and the whole company deserves credit. It's hard to imagine any of the listed names as a Jobs replacement, and I suspect once again, if Jobs had to be replaced, they'll go outside. Maybe someone inside might step in as interim CEO, but I don't know anyone inside that has stepped out of the shadow of Jobs.
A couple of names I'd throw in the hat are Avie Tevanian and Jon Rubinstein, but I think a more seasoned executive from Intel or GE (or even Microsoft or IBM) may be a better choice. Apple is a very difficult company to find a top executive. Someone with the traditional leadership skills, but who can handle the rapid pace of change and leading vision at Apple. The biggest loss will be Jobs PR genious (famous or infamous "reality distortion field"). |
