Golden Rule Leader: John Mackey, Whole Foods and Conscious Capitalist Founder

Launched as a single natural foods store in Austin TX, it grew into a publicly owned national chain based on the principles of stakeholder capitalism before its sale to Amazon in 2017. If this is "woke" capitalism, the shareholders had little to complain about based on its extraordinary share price performance.

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John Mackey is no longer CEO, but his leadership principles live on at Whole Foods. Even under Amazon’s ownership, Whole Foods Market says it still operates under the core principles plainly stated in its stores: a commitment to high-quality natural and organic foods, customer satisfaction, team member growth, strong supplier relationships, profitability, and community and environmental responsibility. This is the essence of stakeholder capitalism.

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Mackey is widely recognized as a stakeholder capitalist due to his advocacy for conscious capitalism, a philosophy and now an organization he founded that emphasizes creating value for all stakeholders—customers, employees, suppliers, investors, and the broader community. Here’s some evidence supporting this:

His book, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business, co-authored with Raj Sisodia, contends that businesses can serve a higher purpose beyond profit and create value for all stakeholders.
Under Mackey, the company focused on paying fair wages, sustainable sourcing and strong supply chain relations and community engagement, without sacrificing profitability.
The Conscious Capitalism organization he founded to support these management principles has 19 chapters and has a membership goal of 10 million people (although it does not disclose current membership numbers.)

The Whole Foods stakeholder-focused approach did not sacrifice the interests of shareholders. When the company went public in 1992, the initial price was $2.125 a share. It was acquired by Amazon for $42 share, providing nearly a 2,000% return for shareholders, versus 650% for the S&P 500 during that period, according to Macrotrends.net.

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Celebrating our 15^th year, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance helps organizations enhance performance through:

1. Information and marketing opportunities on stakeholder management and total rewards:

ESM Weekly on stakeholder management since 2009. Click here to subscribe; click here for media kit.
RRN Weekly on total rewards since 1996. Click here to subscribe; click here for media kit.
EEA YouTube channel on enterprise engagement, human capital, and total rewards since 2020

2. Learning: Purpose Leadership and Stakeholder

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3. Books on implementation: Enterprise Engagement for CEOs and Enterprise Engagement: The Roadmap.

4. Advisory services and research: Strategic guidance, learning and certification on stakeholder management, measurement, metrics, and corporate sustainability reporting.

5. Permission-based targeted business development to identify and build relationships with the people most likely to buy.

Contact: Bruce Bolger at TheICEE.org; 914-591-7600, ext. 230.