John Mackey is the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, which began as a natural foods store in Texas in 1978 and now has over 300 stores worldwide. While he didn't complete a college degree, Mackey became an entrepreneur to prove businesses could have a positive social impact. Whole Foods Market aims to set high standards for food retailers and sees its mission as serving customers, employees, and the environment. Mackey believes businesses should have a higher purpose beyond profit and practices servant leadership, focusing on empowering employees and building relationships with stakeholders.

1. Servant-Leadership of John Mackey & Whole Foods Market
Becky Goodridge
University of Southern Maine
• Born in Texas in 1951, John Mackey is the Co-Founder
and CEO of Whole Foods Market.
• While he did take several college courses (mostly on
philosophy, religion, and humanities) at two separate
universities, Mackey did not take any business courses
or earn a college degree.
• In his early twenties, Mackey was a liberalist who
distained all businesses because he believed they were
selfishly motivated by greed and profit. However, he
eventually decided that the food-coops he belonged to
were consumed by political agendas that were not
focused on improving service or customer relations.
• Mackey eventually become an entrepreneur to prove
that he could make the world better by embracing the
ideals he felt so passionate about. He wanted to create
jobs and sell healthy food to consumers, so in 1978,
Mackey opened a natural foods store called Safer Way
with his girlfriend.
• Two years later, Safer Way was renamed Whole Foods
Market as they merged their store with another natural
food store.
• Mackey’s single Whole Foods Market which began in
Texas, now has over 300 store worldwide with
approximately 70,000 employees referred to as “Team
Members.”
Who is John Mackey?
Mackey believes businesses need a higher
purpose beyond making money.
Receptive listener who can interpret the needs of the group
• One of the identified values of Whole Foods Market is that they recognize that the company
improves when everyone contributes, and they acknowledge that each of their employees has a
right to be heard.
Empathy to understand and accept the uniqueness of individuals
• Whole Foods Market has been on Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” every
year since the list began in 1998, and they believe one of the reasons for this is that they allow
employees the freedom to show their individual style.
Ability to heal one’s self and others
• In his book Conscientious Capitalism, Mackey recalls a devastating flood that destroyed Whole
Foods Market in 1981. If it had not been for local customers pitching in to help fix the store, and
suppliers fronting them credit, Whole Foods Market would have gone out of business. This incident
helped Mackey understand how much of a difference their store was making in the lives of their
stakeholders.
Tuned-in and acutely aware of what is happening
• The store teams at each Whole Foods Market location work with their local communities and
growers to ensure local awareness.
Ability to achieve a consensus through persuasion instead of coercion
• The top leadership of Whole Foods Market make decisions that impact the business through
consensus by discussing matters until there is an agreement that makes all of them happy. Mackey
believes this is made possible by their mutual respect for one another.
Seeing beyond today’s reality to conceptualize possibilities
• Whole Foods Market has “green mission teams” who spread encouragement of green practice from
store to store to include not only green building but also sustainable seafood and alternative forms
of energy. Mackey feels that this is particularly important to the younger generation of employees
throughout their stores.
Foresight to intuitively know the consequences of decisions
• In 2009 when economic conditions were getting worse and hurting many businesses, Mackey
remained optimistic, and in an effort to avoid layoffs, Whole Foods Market opted to freeze hiring
and pay raises.
Stewardship to serve others with transparency and trust
• Employees at Whole Foods Market get to vote on new hires, and they have access to see the
salaries of everyone in the company.
Commitment to valuing and promoting the growth of each person in the group
• Each year, employees have hundreds of opportunities for promotions and new jobs. Additionally,
employees get to go on field trips to meet suppliers so they can learn about their products from the
experts. Whole Foods Market has an Academy for Conscious Leadership for employees, and the
company also encourages employees to pursue personal passions.
Desire to build a community that connects individuals in a group
• Whole Foods Market has a “shared fate” value in which all stakeholders have a collective interest
in the success or failure of the company. They also limit the compensation of any employee to 19
times the average compensation of all full-time employees.
SERVANT-LEADER CHARACTERISTICS
Declaration of Interdependence
REFERENCES
“For us, our most important stakeholder is not our stockholders, it is our
customers. We’re in business to serve the needs and desires of our core
customer base.” ~ John Mackey
Whole Foods Market is a dynamic leader in the quality
food business. We are a mission-driven company that
aims to set the standards of excellence for food
retailers. We are building a business in which high
standards permeate all aspects of our company.
Quality is a state of mind at Whole Foods Market.
Our motto — Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole
Planet — emphasizes that our vision reaches far
beyond just being a food retailer. Our success in
fulfilling our vision is measured by customer
satisfaction, team member happiness and excellence,
return on capital investment, improvement in the state
of the environment and local and larger community
support.
Our ability to instill a clear sense of interdependence
among our various stakeholders (the people who are
interested and benefit from the success of our
company) is contingent upon our efforts to
communicate more often, more openly, and more
compassionately. Better communication equals better
understanding and more trust.
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mission-values/core-values/declaration-interdependence