Author Mike Cook

The man who helps others thrive…

Mike Cook is the Founding Partner of Vitalwork, Inc., an organizational development firm based in upstate New York. Vitalwork specializes in helping clients create and sustain cultures that foster employee engagement, welcome dynamic leaders, and promote shared values. Cook’s clients include local organizations and Fortune 500 companies spanning every sector, from non-profit, healthcare, and telecommunications, to financial services, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing.

His expertise in organizational development makes him the perfect partner for those seeking extraordinary performance and results in our increasingly complex, demanding, and unpredictable work environments.

Cook’s work has been called innovative…challenging, even transformational. He makes democratic approaches to management viable in a competitive, global environment.

Among his clients, Cook is known for his directness, humor and outright passion for the success of his clients’ businesses.

He’s also known for cut-to-the-chase insight: “I have the most rewarding job on the planet,” Cook says. “Business leaders, who, I admit, find me challenging, discover untapped levels of talent and flexibility in themselves and the people they’ve worked with for years. They’re all smiles about increased productivity, new organizational options, and reduced turnover. But the truth is, they’re thriving—exercising their abilities in support of an interdependent enterprise.”

A native of Lansing, Michigan, Cook is an alum of Michigan State University where he received his bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences in 1970 and his master’s degree in Industrial Relations in 1972.

Cook’s work and corporate experience have provided a perspective that underlies his consulting practice. Prior to founding Vitalwork, he served for five years as President of Douglas Oil & Gas, Inc. in Pittsburgh, PA. Under his direction, Douglas became one of the most successful exploration companies in the Appalachian Basin.

Cook’s early career began with a wide range of human resource assignments throughout the U.S. for Standard Oil of California, now Chevron Corporation. He was responsible, in 1974, for bringing the first women into the company’s refineries as operators and mechanics. His breakthrough work in this area led the corporation to adopt his methods as the standard for the entire organization.

Cook is the father of four adult children thriving in Oregon, Arizona, New York and Virginia. Cook lives with his wife, Pat Jackson, near Seattle in Anacortes, Washington.