The Business Dojo

The Business Dojo is run by Quentin Cooke, who for for 20+ years has managed his own successful financial services business and he continues to do so.  He is an international teacher of aikido. (black belt 7th dan).  Quentin focuses on how what he has learnt from martial arts training can help businesses assist their employees to be become more effective and at the same time  more fulfilled.  He is the joint founder and  Chair of a growing  aikido association called Aikido for Daily Life, based in the U.K., but with international links.

 

After securing his degree at the University of Exeter in Philosophy and Psychology, Quentin spent the formative years of his career working for several large financial services companies, becoming a regional director before establishing his own business in 1997, providing independent financial advice.

 

Married for 30+ years, with two sons, aged 23 and 19, Quentin believes that balance in life is essential for the well-being of individuals, companies and society as a whole.  He says, ‘To achieve this, the work begins with you and then cascades outwards to all aspects of society.’

 

As such, Quentin believes in supporting the communities in which he lives and works, which has included being on the Board of Governors of his local village school for over 8 years and chairing it for  2+ years.

 

Quentin also runs his own aikido club, which is now over 27 years old in the village where he lives.   Additionally he is a board member of Aiki Extensions, an international charity based in the United States, which he has served for around 10 years.

 

With the Business Dojo, Quentin brings together a wealth of experience in both large and small businesses, and 35 years of martial arts training.

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He says,

 

‘It is self-evident that something learnt involving both your mind and body affects you far more profoundly than any intellectual idea presented on its own.  Time and again I have seen how the principles embedded in aikido have the power to really change people’s lives and to help people fulfill their potential.

 

It’s time to bring these ideas into the business world, to ensure that leaders and management teams really understand what underpins long term success and that employees are able to work in companies that value their skills, maximise their potential and in so doing help the organisations for whom they work, achieve their goals.’