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| Source: NBC News |
Fortune's Emma Burleigh has a short feature on new Apple CEO John Ternus. This week, he takes over as chief executive at Apple, succeeding long-time leader Tim Cook. Burleigh writes,
“Always assume you’re as smart as anyone else in the room, but never assume that you know as much as they do,” Ternus told University of Pennsylvania’s engineering graduates in 2024. “With this mindset, you’ll find the confidence you need to push forward, but more importantly, the humility to ask questions and learn.”
“I’ll always be grateful that I wasn’t afraid to ask for help when I needed it,” Ternus said. “Because being around people that care that deeply, it won’t just make you want to stretch your limits and see how far you can go, but they’re also the best people to help you understand how to get there."
I love the distinction that Ternus has made here. He's arguing that we should be confident in our abilities - our intelligence and our potential. At the same time, he's advocating for humility. He's arguing that we should recognize that, in any given situation, there are others who know things that we do not know. We need to acknowledge the limits of our knowledge, be curious, and ask questions. By seeking to uncover what others know, we can make better decisions. In short, we should be confident in our capacity to solve problems and make good choices, but humble about the knowledge that we possess before we have begun to engage with, and learn from, others around us.
