Apple CEO John Ternus says confidence gets you talking, humility gets you learning
Twenty five years ago he walked into the same company as a 26-year-old engineer who was not convinced he was good enough to be there. Speaking to engineering graduates at his old university in 2024, Ternus told them the people he met at Apple in 2001 were smarter than him, more confident than him, and knew far more than he did.
He has said so himself. Then he gave them the rule he used to get past that. Two instructions doing opposite jobs. The first buys the right to speak. The second removes the right to assume. Confidence without the second half is bluster, humility without the first is silence, and most career advice picks one and calls it a philosophy. Ternus is saying they are a single working method. Speak up, then ask.
Tomorrow, John Ternus walks onto the floor of the Steve Jobs Theater as chief executive of Apple , eight days into the job, to introduce the first iPhone line of his tenure.
He now runs a $4.6 trillion company that is behind on artificial intelligence and is about to be judged on a keynote.
Ternus started on the Cinema Display, moved up through the G5-era iMacs, and sat through Apple’s switch from clear plastic to aluminium, a shift he says sharpened his ability to come at problems from more than one angle. “This is your time, this is your moment, so do what Steve Jobs once said, and go out there and make a dent in the universe. He went on to lead hardware for every generation of iPad, the first AirPods, and work across iPhone, Mac and Watch. What he credits is not talent. It is that he was never embarrassed to ask for help. By his own rule, the room still contains people who know more than he does. The job is to keep asking them. “The care that you put into your work, it really matters. “Ongoing change is one of the great gifts of life, and learning how to learn and keep learning is one of the great gifts of your college education. “I’ll always be grateful that I wasn’t afraid to ask for help when I needed it. Get the latest technology news and updates. Download the TOI App.