Bio
Mark Cook is President of Windfall Partners and a leader consultant. Mark gets business people and projects unstuck. Opportunities thrive with his Bold Encounters.
After completing a masters in business and a career in chief-executive roles, Mark led nine global studies on leader results, including the largest-ever investigation of award-winning work. Mark has led 4,000+ wins at top brands, New York Times and Amazon bestsellers, and Priorities: The Magazine of Professional Success. Mark has led as a turnaround CEO, executive of sales and marketing, and a co-founder of C7's tech-exit of $123 million. The Mark Spencer Cook podcast is in the top ten percent of all business career shows and can be found on Mark's website and all platforms. Mark has interviewed hundreds of iconic and forward-thinking leaders in his career. Mark's remarkable energy grew in three ironman races, as a starter for national-champion Highland Rugby, and as a football coach. Mark's passion for leader success stems from early mentors Hyrum Smith, Stephen Covey, Ray Noorda, and Obert Tanner. Mark has five sons with wife Annika, also a successful businessperson. |
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Accolades
“Mark’s concepts are real world, advanced strategies that anyone leading needs.”
-Glenn Seninger, Group Vice President, Oracle
“Mark is a proven business builder and rare leader.”
-Stephen Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Successful People
“The patterns of leadership Cook outlines can and will make a significant difference in revenue gains.”
-Steve C. Wheelwright, PhD, Harvard Business School Emeritus
“Mark is a natural leader. He drew people into a vision, turned revenue around, and led an exit for millions.”
−Drew Judkins, former co=owner, Cumulus
“Every team faces a next big thing. Cook attacks rapid innovation for teams and better strategy for leaders!”
-John Grant, CFO, Outpar
“Mark has a critical eye and positive energy building top teams. No one sizes up essentials and people better.”
−Kelly Phillipps, Founding CEO, C7
Additional Background
Mark's Bold Encounters is a method for creating bold breakthroughs then a cadence of accomplishment. His practices unstick sales leaders, IT leaders and operating leaders. Mark's executive leadership, global studies, bestsellers, start-ups, adjunct university teaching and MBA and Marketing degrees don't explain all his enthusiasm. Mark's national championship rugby, three ironmans, and two decades of sports coaching lend to his energy while speaking to firms like: Oracle, Zimmer Biomet, Subway, William-Sonoma, Dow, Ragnar, GE, BofA, Home Depot, Zions Bank, Extra Space Storage, Commscope, plus Intermountain, Norton, and NorthBay Healthcare networks etc.
Mark has spoken to global webcast audiences and in 50+ international cities including: New York, Athens, Los Angeles, Montreal, Chicago, Toronto, Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, London, Dallas, Stockholm, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, and more.
Mark's work with leaders comes after leading Harvard, Stanford, and Cambridge PhDs in investigations of millions of business outcomes and iconic interviews like: Dr. Marty Cooper the inventor of the cell phone, Dr. Brad Parkinson the father of GPS, Herb Kelleher co-founder of Southwest, Presidential Candidate Liddy Dole, Egypt's Jehan Sadat, and legends Dick Vermeil, Arnold Palmer, Walter Payton, Heather Stone (President, Teton Sports), Larry King, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Gary Player, Carl Lewis, Stephen R. Covey, Walter Payton, Larry King, Ken Griffey Jr., Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Lou Piniella, Ray Noorda, Carl Lewis, Jon Huntsman, Kyle Whittingham (FBS coach of the year), Charles Sorenson (top-three healthcare CEOs), Agbor Agbor (CEO, UT Water), Jim Olson (NBA team president), Rami Goldratt (CEO/The Goal), Hyrum Smith (founder FranklinCovey), Kent Murdock (CEO, OC Tanner), John Pingree (CEO, UTA), Thomas Monson (president, CJCLDS), Ken Lamneck (CEO, Insight Innovation), Kevin Childs & Drew Judkins (Partners, CallCorp) and hundreds of tech leaders.
Mark's Bold Encounters is a method for creating bold breakthroughs then a cadence of accomplishment. His practices unstick sales leaders, IT leaders and operating leaders. Mark's executive leadership, global studies, bestsellers, start-ups, adjunct university teaching and MBA and Marketing degrees don't explain all his enthusiasm. Mark's national championship rugby, three ironmans, and two decades of sports coaching lend to his energy while speaking to firms like: Oracle, Zimmer Biomet, Subway, William-Sonoma, Dow, Ragnar, GE, BofA, Home Depot, Zions Bank, Extra Space Storage, Commscope, plus Intermountain, Norton, and NorthBay Healthcare networks etc.
Mark has spoken to global webcast audiences and in 50+ international cities including: New York, Athens, Los Angeles, Montreal, Chicago, Toronto, Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, London, Dallas, Stockholm, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, and more.
Mark's work with leaders comes after leading Harvard, Stanford, and Cambridge PhDs in investigations of millions of business outcomes and iconic interviews like: Dr. Marty Cooper the inventor of the cell phone, Dr. Brad Parkinson the father of GPS, Herb Kelleher co-founder of Southwest, Presidential Candidate Liddy Dole, Egypt's Jehan Sadat, and legends Dick Vermeil, Arnold Palmer, Walter Payton, Heather Stone (President, Teton Sports), Larry King, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Gary Player, Carl Lewis, Stephen R. Covey, Walter Payton, Larry King, Ken Griffey Jr., Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Lou Piniella, Ray Noorda, Carl Lewis, Jon Huntsman, Kyle Whittingham (FBS coach of the year), Charles Sorenson (top-three healthcare CEOs), Agbor Agbor (CEO, UT Water), Jim Olson (NBA team president), Rami Goldratt (CEO/The Goal), Hyrum Smith (founder FranklinCovey), Kent Murdock (CEO, OC Tanner), John Pingree (CEO, UTA), Thomas Monson (president, CJCLDS), Ken Lamneck (CEO, Insight Innovation), Kevin Childs & Drew Judkins (Partners, CallCorp) and hundreds of tech leaders.
Research Studies
The studies below include quantitative and qualitative studies of work results and the means to achieve such results. Leading decades of work research helps Mark Cook and his Windfall Partners predict whether a leader or individual will produce exceptional business results or not. Predictions are based on the degree that specific actions have been taken. Having his work create bestsellers and thousands of successes for audience members, Windfall Partners' principal offers certifications too.
Rapid InnovationExceptional Team Members
Interviewed 1,000 leaders and teammates about top performing team members. Identified actions, focus, emphasis on exceptional results and lifts of productivity of 22% (Windfall Partners '20). Great Work
Led investigation of 2 million innovative teams; award winners vs. non-winners. Samples of 10,000 cases revealed five actions improved odds of exceptional results 10.3X (Great Work '14). Exceptional Results
Led investigation of 2,000 projects with Forbes Research and Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, and BYU PhDs. Seven actions predicted nine exceptional results, including financial impact (Forbes, Cicero, and OC Tanner '14). |
Leader StrategyTech Leader Strategies
Interviewed 200 global innovators from 31 countries, 100 onsite including: Google, Oracle, CA, IBM, L3, USAF, GE, Biomet, Simplus, etc. Four strategies lead exceptional results. (Windfall Series '20). Leaders of Great Work
Led global study of nearly 3,000 leaders in 13 countries on six continents plus focus groups in five states. Three areas of leadership predicted the greatest outcomes (Cicero/OC Tanner '18) Iconic Leadership
Interviewed 50 icons: Herb Kelleher, Liddy Dole, Jehan Sadat, Arnold Palmer, Stephen Covey, Walter Payton, Larry King, Ken Griffey Jr., Dr. Laura, Lou Piniella, Gary Player, Ray Noorda, Carl Lewis, etc. (FranklinCovey '99). |
Revenue GrowthGrowth Point
Interviewed 200 top salespeople. Eight prospect successes accelerated sales cycles and created exceptional growth (Windfall Series '20). Leading Client Growth
Interviewed 300 top salespeople. A focus on eight prospect goals created exceptional growth (OC Tanner '11). Sales Blazers
Interviewed 300 top sales leaders (avg. 29 percent growth compared to 5-percent status quo). Eight practices create exceptional growth. Sales Blazers became the number one Amazon bestseller in Sales (Sales Blazers '08) |
Mark's Big Why
"I live to unstick breakthroughs. At 15, my dad passed away. My escape from a seeming catastrophe began my search for paths to opportunity. I was forced into a job that paid $2.85 an hour and have studied how to unstick opportunity ever since. A four-month, near-fatal spine infection brought my exit from corporate life a few years ago. I've taken the "medicine" of bold encounters to create a great life's work. I still thirst for others' wins and guarantee them. Greatness can help, but everyone deserves to know how to unstick opportunity. Bold Encounters is the key. No consultant can improve your results as quickly as I. It's what I do and love! I have thousands of success stories I've caused or witnessed. Let's unstick an opportunity for you!"
Windfall Partners, LC
A few key ideas cornerstone the origin of Windfall Partners. A "pivot" was originally the pin on a pinwheel, a signal for a coming storm. Every opportunity faces the challenge of getting stuck and often needs a pivot. A pivot upward and onward is what we do.
In the 1400s, a "wind·fall" was a surprising storm that blew a bounty from fruit trees. Windfall Partners turns leaders into the surprising storms that unstick bounties. Today a "windfall" is an exceptional gain from a surprising source, perhaps a rapid result. Windfall Partners helps leaders become the surprising source to unstick exceptional gains and rapid results.
Engaging Windfall Partners and Mark Cook results in a series of windfalls from your highest priorities, not just low-hanging fruit. Forward-thinking, innovative leaders unstick opportunity. In fact, we guarantee you find a 10X "windfall" in hours or we leave your check.
Windfall Partners promotes Mark Cook as the principal for keynotes and leader consulting. Mark "unsticks opportunity" by leading clients through, brief "Bold Encounters." Mark began discovering this approach while interviewing success icons as publisher for Priorities magazine (FranklinCovey). Then Mark led the largest-ever study to co-author New York Times bestseller, Great Work (with David Sturt). Mark extended his global study of leader results through client-proven practices. Now Mark speaks, using fascinating success stories, and consults leaders using Bold Encounters, only available through Windfall Partners.
In the 1400s, a "wind·fall" was a surprising storm that blew a bounty from fruit trees. Windfall Partners turns leaders into the surprising storms that unstick bounties. Today a "windfall" is an exceptional gain from a surprising source, perhaps a rapid result. Windfall Partners helps leaders become the surprising source to unstick exceptional gains and rapid results.
Engaging Windfall Partners and Mark Cook results in a series of windfalls from your highest priorities, not just low-hanging fruit. Forward-thinking, innovative leaders unstick opportunity. In fact, we guarantee you find a 10X "windfall" in hours or we leave your check.
Windfall Partners promotes Mark Cook as the principal for keynotes and leader consulting. Mark "unsticks opportunity" by leading clients through, brief "Bold Encounters." Mark began discovering this approach while interviewing success icons as publisher for Priorities magazine (FranklinCovey). Then Mark led the largest-ever study to co-author New York Times bestseller, Great Work (with David Sturt). Mark extended his global study of leader results through client-proven practices. Now Mark speaks, using fascinating success stories, and consults leaders using Bold Encounters, only available through Windfall Partners.