In a wide-ranging conversation with Steve Amos, HealthCode founder and CEO, Mackey discussed conscious leadership, building teams, creating value for stakeholders and empowering others in the workplace.
Mackey shared some insight for leaders, “For leaders, it is important to put the mission and purpose of the company first, and you are only as good as your team.’’
Mackey is a mission-driven entrepreneur who took Whole Foods from a single store in Austin, Texas, to a multibillion Fortune 500 company with stores in the United States, the UK, and Canada.
From Mackey’s stint as part of a vegetarian co-op to opening his first store to being the CEO of Wholefoods, his purposeful drive toward health inspired him as he lead his companies from the ground up with conscious capitalism. He embraces and advocates for business as a force for good.
Mackey is a leader in driving “conscious capitalism’’ and built the Whole Foods culture around a higher purpose that goes beyond generating profits and value for shareholders and creates engagement among all stakeholders.
Below you’ll find both the video and audio from the interview as well as timestamps if you’d like to jump in on certain topics. Enjoy!
Video Timestamps for Easy Reference
0:06 | Introductions
1:18 |John’s Books
1:57 |Higher Purpose
4:00 | Seeds for Whole Foods
8:09 | Top 100 Best Companies to Work For
8:52 | Conscious Capitalism
10:51 | Learning and Growing: “Fear is the enemy of growth.”
12:34 | Innovation and Failure
17:27 | Importance of Teams
20:11 | Who are Stakeholders?
22:01 | All stakeholders can flourish
27:02 | Integrity and honesty to listen to critics
32:34 | Conscious Leadership
34:11 | What to do in crisis
37:40 | There is no safety.
38:33 | The fear of ridicule
39:27 | Empowering Others
42:33 | Gratitude in teambuilding
44:33 | Love in a business context
49:50 | Final Questions
50:18 | How do you recharge?
52:32 | What’s next for John Mackey?
56:45 | What we eat is SO important
59:19 | Closing thoughts