John Mackey Quotes

120 John Mackey Quotes

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We humans can choose to exist at a caterpillar level, consuming all we can, taking as much as possible from the world and giving little back. We are also capable of evolving to a degree that is no less dramatic than what happens to a caterpillar, transforming ourselves into beings who create value for others and help make the world more beautiful. The same is true for corporations…
John Mackey

Unlike caterpillars, we cannot wait for nature to trigger our evolution to higher consciousness. Instead, we must work to raise our own consciousness and make deliberate choices that further our personal and organization growth and development.
John Mackey

Every human being is born relatively undeveloped, but holds the potential for virtually unlimited personal growth.
John Mackey

Business must view people not as resources but as sources. A resource is like a lump of coal; you use it and it’s gone. A source is like the sun – virtually inexhaustible and continually generating energy, light, and warmth. There is no more powerful source of creative energy in the world than a turned-on, empowered human being.
John Mackey

Whole Foods Market is passionate about helping people to eat well, improve the quality of their lives, and increase their lifespan. Our purpose is to teach people that what they put into their bodies makes a difference, not only to their health and to that of the people who supply the food, but also to the health of the planet as a whole.
John Mackey

Because organic farms utilize no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, there is reduced usage of fossil fuels and less chemical contamination entering food chains and water supplies.
John Mackey

Everyone craves means and purpose in life, but few people find such fulfillment at work.
John Mackey

People are most fulfilled and happiest when their work is aligned with their own inner passions.
John Mackey

The purpose of every business ultimately revolves around creating value for customers.
John Mackey

At Whole Foods Market, we think of customers as our most important stakeholders because we know that without enough satisfied and happy customers, we have no business at all.
John Mackey



In the United States, there is a myth of the lone genius coming up with brilliant ideas that change the world. While that occasionally happens, the more common scenario is that an individual comes up with an idea and shares it with other members of his or her team; they become excited and improve upon it. The spirit of collaboration allows the idea to evolve and mature.
John Mackey

It is natural for people to both collaborate and compete.
John Mackey

Whole Foods Market has created innovative health-care and wellness plans that have made a big difference to the morale of our organization. As a self-insured company, we spent over $200 million in fiscal 2011 on health care for our team members.
John Mackey

It sometimes seems that the values and philosophy of Wall Street has become a type of cancer that is corrupting the healthier parts of the larger business system.
John Mackey

There is no question that labor unions primarily came about because of the failure of businesses to care about their workers as human beings.
John Mackey

Whole Foods Market employs over sixty-seven thousand people, and none are unionized, despite the fact that we operate in a highly unionized segment of the economy.
John Mackey

Our belief is that if a company does an outstanding job caring for its team members, creating value for them, and respecting them as key stakeholders, it can successfully avoid unionization.
John Mackey

It is very healthy to look up to admirable people.
John Mackey

We should make a conscious decision and effort to begin practicing the virtues of people we admire. Ask yourself questions like, ‘What would Warren Buffett do in this situation?’
John Mackey

We humans have the potential to learn and grow all of our lives.
John Mackey



Too many leaders continue to believe that fear is a better motivator than love. Fear is the opposite of love. When we are completely grounded in love and care, fear is not present.
John Mackey

A company built on fear and stress is like a house infested with termites; it may look fine from the outside but it is begin eaten away from the inside until one day, it just collapses.
John Mackey

The greatest long-term, sustainable competitive advantage a business has is the ability to out-innovate its competitors in ways that enhance efficiency or create greater value for customers.
John Mackey

No innovation bestows permanent advantage… But organizations that innovate continuously and rapidly and diffuse those innovations quickly throughout their system have significant long-term competitive advantages.
John Mackey

Any organization that depends on a few geniuses at the top and outside consultants, regardless of how brilliant they are, is at a competitive disadvantage to businesses that more fully utilize all of their intellectual capital and decentralized knowledge.
John Mackey

Imagine the impact if every single person working for a company were able to be a creator and innovator. Team members should be enabled, empowered, and challenged to unleash their entrepreneurial energy and their creativity to help improve their team, store and company.
John Mackey

In a capitalistic market economy, business is ultimately based on voluntary exchange…
John Mackey

Conscious managers exercise a minimal amount of control. Their role is not to control other people; it is to create the conditions that allow for more self-management.
John Mackey

The pleasure of my palate is insufficient reason to cause animals pain.
John Mackey

Becoming vegan was the most ethical choice. I want a life of compassion for all beings, not exploitation.
John Mackey



Whole Foods is so much more than a company or a name. It is a philosophy, a way of approaching life that respects the many spheres in which we travel.
John Mackey

When we opt for local, organic products, we voice our belief in small community-based farms that respect their lands and the people they feed.
John Mackey

No profits, no progress. If you’re only making enough money to cover your costs, your impact is going to be minimal. Whole Foods Markets has a much greater impact today than we did thirty, twenty or ten years ago, because we’ve been highly profitable.
John Mackey

A business as a machine does not, and cannot, have any social consciousness or social responsibility. A business viewed as a living entity is, like all people within a society, a citizen with a social and moral responsibility to both itself and society. A machine does not learn and adapt to its environment, but adaptation is the very essence of all living entities. Machines merely produce, they cannot innovate, while living entities can actually dream of and create a healthier future.
John Mackey

[On losing $23,000 (Half his total working capital) in year one and then making in year two a profit of $5,000] I wanted to do a bigger store and I pitched the original investors who had already lost half their money. Of course, they didn’t think it was a very good idea.
John Mackey

[On his new store opening] We were broke by the time we got that store opened. We ran out of money and couldn’t make payroll. We had to open the store in order to sell some food to pay our employees.
John Mackey

If you told me twenty years ago that Walmart would be one of the leading sellers of organic foods in the world, I would have thought that was ridiculous. But I’ve seen big changes occur.
John Mackey

It’s easy to be a critic. It’s a lot harder to create anything.
John Mackey

It’s not very inspiring for most people to be told that the purpose of business is to maximize profits and shareholder value. Maybe that’s highly motivated for people who work on Wall Street. For most people that just doesn’t cut it.
John Mackey

Purpose inspires people. Purpose releases creativity.
John Mackey



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