325: How Whole Foods Market Co-Founder and CEO John Mackey Leads By Example

<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO, Whole Foods Market</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Right now, every company needs strong leadership to guide them through these challenging times. Thankfully, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO John Mackey is well versed on the principles of leadership and is launching his latest book,</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Conscious Leadership</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, this month to help other founders put those ideas into practice. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition to the book, people can see Mackey’s approach to leadership in action with Whole Foods. While Mackey is grateful that his stores are still in full operation during Covid-19, he doesn’t try to hide the fact that circumstances have been extremely challenging—from rapidly scaling its supply chain to accommodate the sudden demands of customers to generating almost no revenue as a result of all the sanitation products the business has had to invest in.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But these obstacles don't bother Mackey. As a conscious leader, his priority is making sure that every single one of their 100,000 team members has access to the resources they need to stay safe at work. He has also raised every in-store worker’s pay by $2 per hour, provided two extra weeks of sick pay for those who have to quarantine, and is giving unlimited callouts during this time. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this conversation, Mackey shares more about what it means to lead with love, how founders can attract and retain great talent in this challenging environment, and so much more. If there’s any other type of content you’d like to see that would be valuable to you during this time, please don’t hesitate to reach out at support@foundr.com. </span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Key Takeaways</span></h2> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;