Cook cracks the ceiling

It was an open secret for a few years. Now, it's official: Apple CEO Tim Cook is gay. He revealed that fact in a written essay in the US magazine Businessweek on Thursday.

The 54-year-old wrote that he had never made a secret of his sexual orientation - he had just never previously made a public statement about it. For him, the issue is now one of smoothing the path, step by step, toward a more just world. And this, he writes, was a step.

News that a CEO is homosexual should not, in fact, be a noteworthy event. Nevertheless, Cook's coming out made headlines around the world. The reason? Because he is still, at this point, venturing out on a limb. Other company chiefs have yet to find the courage to live openly as gay or lesbian. In Germany, for example, few mangers are known to be gay.

One is Harald Christ. He received wide public attention in 2009 as part of the campaign team for Germany's current foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Christ was seen thereafter by many as a potential future economy minister. He made no bones about his homosexuality, even then. Nor has his career appeared to have been harmed by coming out. He's been a board member at the German bank Postbank since 2013.

There are surely many other gay top executives out there. Statistically, it'd be miraculous if that wasn't the case. Yet they continue to conceal their sexual orientation. "Masking yourself in public," according to Christ, takes a lot of effort.

Glass ceiling

Why, though? Through this game of hide-and-seek, managers are wasting their energy - energy that could be better invested in their work. Said differently: Even though they're already very successful, they could be better at their jobs if they weren't constantly play-acting within their professional environment. That applies not only to top-level positions, but in all areas of work.

Companies should therefore have every interest in employees - and especially executives - being open about their sexuality. Similar to how heterosexual managers, for example, bring their spouses to company events, signaling in the process what happens in the bedroom.

Clearly, however, considerable opposition still remains to having people at the company helm who don't flaunt "straight guy" credentials. Like many female managers - regardless of sexual orientation - gay men hit glass ceilings in the business world again and again. Promotions are possible to a certain extent, and then - for apparently inexplicable reasons - those opportunities disappear. In truth, many glass ceiling issues involve hostility toward women as well as homosexuals.

Opening doors

In order to change widespread homophobia within the male management hierarchy, role models like Tim Cook are necessary. When even the CEO of the world's most valuable company can live openly as homosexual, there's no argument for obstructing the career paths of ambitious young managers just because they're gay. Another related point, and an important one: In companies tolerant toward homosexual employees, women will also have easier career prospects.

In that respect, Cook's highly publicized step into the limelight is one that has opened doors. More people from top management in other companies should follow - without actually needing to feel scared to take this step. After all, those who have already arrived at the top of the career ladder - just like Apple's CEO - have nothing to lose. Things just don't go any higher. In addition, people like Cook are in a position where they have a significant say in a given company's rules. That can be seen in Apple's engagement on behalf of minorities within the company.

"Not everyone's so lucky," Cook acknowledged in Businessweek. And he's right. But great credit should be given to Apple's CEO for creating the first crack in the glass ceiling.