Apple CEO Tim Cook has a few choice words to say to those who are, up until now, criticizing him for being gay while leading one of the world's top technological giants. For him, being gay is nothing to be ashamed of and not conflicting to his leadership.
In an interview with Christiane Amanpour for her program on CNN International and PBS, the Apple CEO revealed that he is quite proud of his gender, or his homosexuality. His exact words were "God's greatest gift to me." In the first place, he revealed that he felt duty-bound to come out because kids were emailing him stories about being gay and as a result, being bullied and abused.
Before his coming out nearly two years ago on October 30, 2014, in a Bloomberg Editorial, his orientation was mere speculation. He now clarified that he had to come out because he could help these kids and other people by coming out and showing that he can be successful and complete, despite his sexual orientation, or because of it. He admitted that he is a very private person but keeping this identity as a secret is being "selfish" of him.
"I needed to do something for them, "Cook explained. Doing so can show them that one "can be gay and still go on and do some big jobs in life. He essentially shared the same in an interview in 2015. At the time, he said that a Martin Luther quote, " Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" inspired him to come out.
He also expressed shock to Amanpour that he was the first CEO of a Fortune 500 Company to come out and happy that there had been others that followed soon after. He explained though that making other CEOs or leaders come out was not his goal, but it was undoubtedly a positive consequence.
For those wondering if being gay and being CEO can be conflicting and challenging, he said it was quite the opposite. Coming out as gay helped him be a more effective leader in his opinion, because it made him a more open person, concerning other minorities. "I learned what it was like to be a minority," Cook told CNN. "The feeling of being in the minority gives you a level of empathy for other people who are not in the majority."
instead of regretting that he came out and opened himself up to prejudicial comments, Cook said these hate comments made him a much more stronger CEO, because he developed a thick skin.
