A former Human Resource professional for Standard Oil of California, Mike now works primarily with senior leaders and teams to develop and implement communities of collaborative performance. With his 30+ years of consulting and coaching experience, operating in a wide range of industries, Mike enjoys working with diverse client teams at all levels to build alignment and enable change that is sustainable and strategic. His experience includes initiatives in petroleum refining, telecommunications, financial services, healthcare and insurance systems. With a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Labor Relations, Mike maintains his connection with education as an adjunct MBA professor at the University of Western Washington near his home in Anacortes.

How does your company train its operational-level managers? Do they go offsite, learn new information from a management expert, receive a training manual, or something similar? Most businesses fall into this development category, treating managers as our academic system treats students. The results, unfortunately, consist of short-lived bursts of enthusiasm and little measurable improvement, in part due to the lack of day-to-day applicability and personal accountability.

Thriving in the Middle looks to replace this ineffective version of management development with a more culturally founded, experience-dependent model. Based on decades of leadership experience and breakthrough studies, Mike Cook establishes the case for "Distributed Development Communities," in which application takes place in a near-real-time, experiential environment using actual situations faced. In this model, process-driven development is more frequent and delivered in small doses, and operational-level managers are coached and groomed to become great operational-level managers without the subtext of upward advancement. Learn the attributes and processes of better management improvement. Your bottom line and your front line will thank you for it.