去年夏天，安吉拉•阿伦茨很高兴的接受了《时代》（Time）杂志杰夫•朱——我前同事——的采访。当时，她还在担任博柏利公司（Burberry）的首席执行官。

    然而，几个月后，随着苹果（Apple）宣布聘请阿伦茨负责该公司零售业务，阿伦茨便不再接受采访。不过，当时杰夫•朱已经收集了足够的材料，能全面的介绍自2006年以来首位跻身苹果高级副总裁之列的女性。身为顶级高管，阿伦茨可谓光芒四射。她被苹果招致麾下后，曾在苹果担任实习生的Salesforce首席执行官马克•贝尼奥夫在Twitter上写道：

    “我刚看到未来的苹果首席执行官@AngelaAhrendts在@Burberry进行告别之旅！聘请阿伦茨是蒂姆•库克做过的最重要的用人决策！”

    关于苹果期待阿伦茨为它带来什么，朱提供了一些细节（提示：并不是时髦的可穿戴设备）。然而我最感兴趣的是，朱了解到，在库克首次选择的苹果零售业务负责人约翰•布劳维特彻底失败后，库克向猎头公司亿康先达（Egon Zehnder）提出的寻找候选人的标准。

    库克经常用“聪明绝顶”一词来形容苹果的雇员以及苹果希望雇佣的人才。布劳维特符合这个描述。问题在于，布劳维特不太能适应苹果往往有些激烈的管理氛围。曾与库克以及布劳维特共事的线人称：“约翰绝对可谓极其聪明，但哪怕是聪明人也不一定知道如何摸准（企业）文化……”

    布劳维特离职后……苹果再次委托亿康先达为它寻找合适的人选。苹果提出的选人标准没有变，但是着重点变了。苹果公司内部人士称：（我们）从“约翰在苹果的失败中吸取了很重要的教训。我们对‘聪明绝顶’的定义更广泛，也更慎重。人际交往能力以及塑造——和适应——文化的能力‘变得更为重要’”。

    在向全公司宣布聘用阿伦茨的邮件中，库克写道，阿伦茨“同我们一样，高度重视客户体验”。库克同时还补充说：“阿伦茨以人为本，而且认同我们将员工视为公司的首要资源以及灵魂所在的看法。（当然，阿伦茨同时也相当聪明。）（财富中文网）

    译者：项航   

    Angela Ahrendts was happy to be interviewed last summer by Jeff Chu -- my former Time Magazinecolleague -- while she was still running Burberry (BURBY).

    That door slammed shut the day Apple (AAPL) announcedthat she had been hired to run Cupertino's retail empire. But by then Chu had gathered enough material to put together the best profile yet on Apple's first female senior vice president since 2006 -- a C-level star who shines so bright that after she was hired Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, a onetime Apple intern, tweeted

    "I just saw Future Apple CEO @AngelaAhrendts on her farewell @Burberry tour! The most important hire Tim Cook has ever made!"

    Chu offers some fresh details about what Ahrendts is expected to bring to Apple (hint: not stylish computer wearables), but what interested me most was what Chu learned about the search criteria Tim Cook gave the recruiting firm Egon Zehnder after Cook's first choice to run Apple Retail -- John Browett -- crashed and burned. An excerpt:

    Cook frequently uses the term wicked smart to describe the people who already work at Apple, as well as the ones whom he wants to work at Apple, and Browett fit. Problem was, he proved less deft at navigating Apple's often ferocious executive environment. "John was definitely wicked smart," says someone who has worked with both men. "But even wicked-smart people don't necessarily know how to figure out a culture..."

    Following Browett's departure ... Apple once again turned to Egon Zehnder. The criteria didn't really change, but the priorities did. There were "big learnings when John didn't work out," says one company insider. "Wicked smart" was redefined more broadly and carefully. People skills and the ability to shape--as well as adapt to--culture "became more paramount."

    In a companywide email announcing Ahrendts's hiring, Cook wrote that she "places the same strong emphasis as we do on the customer experience." But he also added, significantly, that "she cares deeply about people and embraces our view that our most important resource and our soul is our people." (Of course, she was also deemed "wicked smart.")