"Changing an organization’s culture is one of the most difficult leadership challenges."
Daniel Cook Tweet
Meet Daniel Cook, a student of psychology and human development and potential throughout his youth. He specializes in business development, business process development, human resources, and teams, as well as research for case development. He obtained his master’s degree in psychology from the University of Arkansas & earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Metaphysical Sciences in Arcada, California.
From the late 1970s through the early 2000s, Daniel worked to provide research assistance for projects and papers in various avenues of psychology pertaining to rehabilitation, post-accident, and disability effects on psychological health as well as similar topics. He still continues to contribute articles and content to a variety of blogs and sites spanning topics from business to psychology.
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We’re happy that you could join us today! Please introduce yourself to our readers. What’s your story?
Daniel Cook: I have been a student of psychology and human development and potential throughout my youth and specialize in business development, business process development, human resources, and teams, as well as research for case development. I have a master’s in psychology and a Ph.D. in Philosophy.
I worked at a now somewhat famous meditation center in Florida where I got the opportunity to participate with a team that created one of the first rudimentary software platforms for records management in the medical industry.
I now live in the country outside of Pilot Point near Dallas with his German Shepherd, Hester. Being an outdoor lover, I tend to travel a lot and take frequent camping trips throughout the Western states and Mexico anywhere there are remote mountains or deserts.
CEOs and leaders usually have different motives and aspirations when getting started. Let’s go straight to the beginning. What was your primary goal for starting your business? Was it wealth, respect, or to offer a service that would help improve lives?
Daniel Cook: My primary goal while joining Mullen and Mullen was to add value to the firm and test my expertise in the field. Obviously, everyone wants to be respected for what they do but my main motivation was to expand my horizon. I felt that my skills in the field of business development and HR were well suited for the position. I’ve always seen my job as an opportunity to contribute exciting and forward-thinking ideas to my firm and the industry.
Tell us about 2 things that you like and two things that you dislike about your industry. Share what you’d like to see change and why.
Daniel Cook: One thing that I really like about working in a law firm is the impact we have on people’s lives. Attorneys who practice law with ethics and integrity contribute to the wellbeing of society by promoting justice through fair procedures. We also as a firm contribute to upholding the individual rights of businesses and individuals. When a big corporation attempts to take advantage of an individual or small party of individuals, our firm protects the individual’s rights and keeps the bigger party from strong-arming the smaller party. One thing that I would want to change whilst working at a law firm would be the somewhat stress caused by deadlines coming from clients, judges, filings, and higher-ups at the firm – however, it’s all part of the job.
Companies around the world are rapidly changing their work environment and organizational culture to facilitate diversity. How do you see your organizational culture changing in the next 3 years and how do you see yourself creating that change?
Daniel Cook: Changing an organization’s culture is one of the most difficult leadership challenges. Culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles, processes, values, communications practices, attitudes, and assumptions. For me, changing organizational structure starts with changing the mission of the firm and communicating the vision of the future to the employees. Using my experience in HR management, I would use management tools such as redefining roles and control systems to smooth line to the whole process.
According to the Michigan State University “An organization’s culture is responsible for creating the kind of environment in which the business is managed, and has a major impact on its ultimate success or failure.” What kind of culture has your organization adopted and how has it impacted your business?
Daniel Cook: At our firm, we have adopted a clan culture where we focus on people in the sense that the company feels family-like. Clan culture is often paired with a horizontal structure, which helps to break down barriers and encourages mentorship opportunities. Clan cultures boast high rates of employee engagement, and happy employees make for happy customers. Because of its highly adaptable environment, there’s a great possibility for market growth within a clan culture.
The overwhelming majority of more than 9,000 workers included in a recent Accenture survey on the future of work said they felt a hybrid work model would be optimal going forward, a major reason for that being the improved work-life balance that it offers. How do you promote work-life balance at your company?
Daniel Cook: At our firm, we offer flexible and remote working, so that employees feel empowered to make their own decisions. It’s a norm at our firm to encourage employees to focus on productivity rather than hours. We also encourage our employees to take regular breaks, along with regularly reviewing employee workloads so as to not make them feel overburdened.
How would you describe your company’s overall culture? Give us examples.
Daniel Cook: I would describe our company’s culture as being inclusive. It’s our top priority as senior management to take constant feedback from our employees and include them in the decision-making process. We offer team collaboration opportunities and opportunities to take on new challenges. Along with this, we invest in professional development, continuing education, training, and mentorship for employees. This is what makes us different and more innovative as compared to our competitors.
It is believed that a company’s culture is rooted in a company’s values. What are your values and how do they affect daily life at the workplace?
Daniel Cook: Values are meant to reflect what is important to us in life. Our firm values include loyalty, honesty, accountability, and ingenuity. Our values are reflected in our clan culture where all employees are treated as equals and have the trust of their colleagues and senior management. We take pride in creating a healthy and sustainable environment at our workplace, which for me is only possible if our values are aligned with our culture.
An organization’s management has a deep impact on its culture. What is your management style and how well has it worked so far?
Daniel Cook: I follow a democratic style at my firm where I include my subordinates in my decision-making process. I do this to make them feel valued and connected to the firm. I would say that I’ve followed the right approach till now and it has worked for me.
Every organization suffers from internal conflicts, whether functional or dysfunctional. Our readers would love to know, how do you solve an internal conflict?
Daniel Cook: We at Mullen and Mullen have a very strict code of conduct which all our employees value. The HR department since its inception has been handling workplace conflicts through our conflict resolution committee. It is an unbiased committee, consisting of members selected on a rotation principle. All employees are welcome to report such conflict to the committee without any hesitation and our employees have full confidence in the working of the committee
According to Culture AMP, Only 40% of women feel satisfied with the decision-making process at their organization (versus 70% of men), which leads to job dissatisfaction and poor employee retention. What is your organization doing to facilitate an inclusive and supportive environment for women?
Daniel Cook: We take pride in being equal opportunity employers, so gender preferences are considered at the time of the intake, not gender holds any relevance in the promotion process. Every process only follows merit and we take pride in announcing that we have the highest female employee retention rate in the industry. This speaks a lot about how female lawyers feel at our firm because it is engrained in our values that employee performance is not connected to gender in any sense.
We’re grateful for all that you have shared so far! We would also love to know if there was one thing that you could improve about your company’s culture, what would it be?
Daniel Cook: One thing that I would really like to change in our workplace environment is the amount of stress. Pressure and stress come with being a lawyer, and it is exaggerated when employees feel passionate about their work to an extent where they disregard their mental health. This is one of the things I would like to change at our workplace.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Daniel Cook: The real challenge for me is to bring my firm back to normal after the pandemic. Now that the covid restrictions are being lifted we are moving back to an in-person setting. It is important that employees feel comfortable making this transition and don’t feel pressured.
This has been truly insightful and we thank you for your time. Our final question, however, might be a bit of a curveball. If you had a choice to either fly or be invisible, which would you choose and why?
Daniel Cook: I would definitely want to fly! Being someone who enjoys nature and being outdoors, the ability to fly would really do wonders. I would have the power to go wherever, whenever and explore places that I haven’t been able to visit so far. Also, it would also be the perfect alternative to driving everywhere-no one likes traffic.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Daniel Cook for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Daniel Cook or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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