Now that Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs has stepped out of the limelight for six months, it is time to get know some of the iPhone company’s other executives.  Most notably is Tim Cook, the current Chief Operating Officer of Apple.  While Steve is known to be a bit of an aggressive leader as demonstrated by the way he pounds on tables and throws fits.

Tim Cook will be watching over Apple while Steve is out on medical leave, yet he has a much different style of handling the company.  Cook is known for the way the marathons of meetings he runs and the late nights he spends at the office.  Cook’s job will have a bit more pressure while Steve is out.  Apple shareholders will be breathing down his neck to make sure he fills in the Apple leader’s shoes properly.

This isn’t the first time that Tim Cook has filled in for Steve Jobs.  In 2004, Tim filled in for Jobs while he underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer.  Jobs was away for more than a month.

Tim Cook went to Auburn University for undergraduation studies and followed it up with an MBA from Duke University.  Cook is also on the board of Nike Inc.  Apple hired Cook in 1998 to make Apple’s oversee logistics.  Apple’s manufacturing was so inefficient that they were losing customers to Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Company.  Before Apple, Cook was VP at Compaq and spent 12 years at IBM before that.

Even though Cook doesn’t pound on the table and isn’t nearly as charasmatic as Steve, he has mastered the art of constant questioning.  “He is the master of the Socratic method — he will continue to ask why and why and why,” stated Mike Janes, who worked with Tim Cook for about 5 years.  “If you’re not prepared, it can be a very uncomfortable place.”