Apple’s new retail boss Angela Ahrendts lays out transition philosophy, follows her instincts

Apple’s new senior vice president of retail Angela Ahrendts won’t be taking up the newly created position officially until Spring 2014, but in the meantime Ahrendts has already started the process of transitioning to a new CEO at Burberry. In a blog post on LinkedIn, Ahrendts talks in length about the following her intuition when deciding to take a new job at Apple, much like she had when first joining Burberry, and also outlines her plans for transitioning to new leadership. If you’ve ever heard Tim Cook talk about moving to Apple, ‘following instincts’ will definitely seem like a theme.

And as I look forward to what will define the next generation, I believe it is imperative that great companies add greater social value – the larger the company, the larger the obligation.

Ahrendts notes that the company has started transitioning to new leadership at Burberry in recent weeks and also describes some of her business philosophies in the process:

So the experience of the past eight years has served to reinforce my firm belief that ‘it’s all about people’. And this has never been in sharper focus than in recent weeks, as we have begun the process of transitioning to new leadership at Burberry.

Too often management transitions are viewed with fear or suspicion, when they should be the ultimate example of a natural and healthy organizational evolution. In fact, I believe succession planning is one of the greatest responsibilities you have as a leader – so when your time comes to move on, your team not only doesn’t miss a beat but gains in momentum, embracing new challenges and realizing future opportunities.

Although Ahrendts will take over as head of retail after more than a year without someone in the position, she will actually be taking up a newly created role making her the first to head of retail that will run both Apple’s online and offline operations. Earlier this month Ahrendts was named #4 on Fortune’s annual Businessperson of the year list for her accomplishments at Burberry and her new position at Apple.

You can read Ahrendts’ full post here.