I feel like I wrote this blog post two years ago, so here's a photo I used two years ago. (Courtesy of Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Yesterday, news broke that Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from the company to concentrate on his health. This is the third time since 2004 that Jobs has stepped back from steering the massive ship that is Apple after receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The last time Jobs took time off was in 2009. If you read the headlines then, you might be experiencing deja vu now. Heck, I even wrote several blog posts about it at the time.

It’s no surprise that there should be talk. I’d wager Jobs is one of the few CEOs that your average person could name as the head of a company. The story of Steve Jobs and Apple is tightly interwoven — when he left the company after being pushed aside by executive management several years ago, the corporation seemed to lose its way. When he returned a few years later, he redirected the company’s efforts and shaped Apple according to his own philosophy. It worked — Apple introduced products like the iPod, iPhone and the iPad to great success.

That’s why his departure, even on a temporary basis, tends to cause investors anxiety. According to MarketWatch, Apple’s stock price dipped nearly five percent after Jobs’s announcement became public news. Search the news today and you’ll find dozens of articles about how Apple has a creative and talented team of senior executives. You’ll also read that Jobs hopes to return to the company after his recovery. These are the same stories we heard back in 2009. The Huffington Post began linking to various stories yesterday — check it out and you’ll see what I mean.

That’s the danger of having such an identifiable persona at the helm of a company — if he or she leaves, the company can suffer even if it continues to innovate and invest wisely. The public’s perception of the business can boost it to success or propel it into a downward spiral. Are people ready for an Apple company without Jobs? Has Jobs built a strong enough team to calm investors’ fears? And will the new iPad really have a camera in it? We’ll have to wait and see.

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