John E. Mackey > Quotes

“I realized that with everything I did from that point onward, I would have to ask myself this question: "How would I feel if what I'm doing right now is written up on the front page of the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or if it is on television? Would I still do it?" That is a very useful exercise for leaders to engage in, because we shouldn't do anything we might be embarrassed by or ashamed of.”
― John Mackey, Conscious Capitalism

“Business can be a wonderful vehicle for both personal and organizational learning and growth. I have experienced many more awakenings as Whole Foods has grown and evolved over the past three decades. We will share some of these throughout the book. Most importantly, I have learned that life is short and that we are simply passing through here. We cannot stay. It is therefore essential that we find guides whom we can trust and who can help us discover and realize our higher purposes in life before it is too late. In my early twenties, I made what has proven to have been a wise decision: a lifelong commitment to follow my heart wherever it led me—which has been on a wonderful journey of adventure, purpose, creativity, growth, and love. I have come to understand that it is possible to live in this world with an open, loving heart. I have learned that we can channel our deepest creative impulses in loving ways toward fulfilling our higher purposes, and help evolve the world to a better place.”
― John Mackey, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Resources are limited; creativity is unlimited.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“As the saying goes, “The longest journey that people must take is the eighteen inches between their heads and their hearts.”
― John Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Just as happiness is best experienced by not aiming for it directly, profits are best achieved by not making them the primary goal of the business.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“There are now more phone connections in the world than there are people.”
― John Mackey, Conscious Capitalism

“Most people in the twenty-first century (especially those who are well educated and reasonably affluent) want to work for more than just a paycheck. They crave work that is stimulating and enjoyable. They’re looking for meaning; they want their work to make a difference, to make the world a better place. They’re looking for a community of friends. They’re looking for opportunities to learn and to grow and to have fun.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“This is what we know to be true: business is good because it creates value, it is ethical because it is based on voluntary exchange, it is noble because it can elevate our existence, and it is heroic because it lifts people out of poverty and creates prosperity.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“The longest journey that people must take is the eighteen inches between their heads and their hearts.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Regulations and the size and scope of government have greatly expanded, creating the conditions for the spread of crony capitalism, restricting competition in favor of politically well-connected businesses. Crony capitalism is not capitalism at all, but is seen as such by many because it involves businesspeople.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Businesses must view people not as resources but as sources.16 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. A conscious business energizes and empowers people and engages their best contribution in service of its noble higher purposes. By doing so, a business has a profoundly positive net impact on the world. We”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“The median age of adults is rising rapidly in most countries as birth rates fall and life expectancies increase. For the United States, the year 1989 marked a major turning point: for the first time, there were more adults over the age of forty than below.5 The “psychological center of gravity” for society as a whole shifted into midlife and beyond.6 This silent passage marked a gradual but significant transformation of the zeitgeist toward midlife values such as caring and compassion, a greater desire for meaning and purpose, and concern for one’s community and legacy.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“While building trust is a slow and difficult process, destroying it is quick and easy. It doesn’t take much: blatantly self-serving actions by senior leaders, people consistently getting away with toxic behavior, inconsistent and unfair treatment by managers, and distorting or withholding essential information all rapidly erode trust.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink reviews the research on human motivation for the past forty years and concludes that most businesses are ignoring what the scientific evidence clearly suggests they should do.7 They continue to manage by relying heavily on extrinsic motivators, symbolized by the proverbial carrot-and-stick approach—the use of incentives and threats. But extrinsic motivators are only effective when the work lacks inherent meaning and the potential for creativity and satisfaction, such as with assembly lines where simple rote tasks must be repeated without end.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“This has given a real marketing advantage to companies that have a higher purpose and that are adept at using the tools of marketing not to sell, but rather to add value among people who share their beliefs.12”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“To tap this deep wellspring of human motivation, companies need to shift their emphasis from profit maximization to purpose maximization.19”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Mientras trabajaba en Suiza en el CERN (la organización europea de investigación nuclear), el físico británico Tim Berners-Lee inventó el World Wide Web en 1989.”
― John E. Mackey, Capitalismo consciente

“«¿Cómo me sentiré si lo que estoy haciendo ahora sale en la portada del Wall Street Journal, el New York Times o en la televisión? ¿Seguiría haciéndolo?» Es un buen ejercicio para cualquier líder, porque no debemos hacer nada que nos pueda avergonzar o incomodar. Fue la lección más contundente.”
― John E. Mackey, Capitalismo consciente

“Caffeine is the most commonly abused drug throughout the world because of the virtually universal use of coffee, tea, cola, and so-called energy drinks. An estimated 90 percent of all adults in the United States use caffeine on a daily basis due to its addictive nature.15 Caffeine only gives us the illusion of greater energy because it simply borrows from our reserves, resulting in an eventual energy crash as the caffeine wears off. The heavy use of caffeine slowly burns us out over time. It’s a stimulant that over-amps our adrenal glands, gradually ages us, and drains our vitality.16 Caffeine is not a healthy drug, and it should be indulged in only on occasion instead of daily.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Frankl nos enseñó que podemos hallar sentido y propósito en nuestras vidas de tres maneras: haciendo una labor significativa, amando a los demás de forma incondicional o hallando sentido a nuestro sufrimiento”
― John E. Mackey, Capitalismo consciente

“de estas dos motivaciones esenciales. Su libro El poder de los sentimientos morales precedió en más de 17 años al mucho más conocido La riqueza”
― John E. Mackey, Capitalismo consciente

“It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For, de Roy Spence y Haley Rushing,”
― John E. Mackey, Capitalismo consciente

“Conscious Capitalism is not about being virtuous or doing well by doing good. It is a way of thinking about business that is more conscious of its higher purpose, its impacts on the world, and the relationships it has with its various constituencies and stakeholders. It reflects a deeper consciousness about why businesses exist and how they can create more value.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“El Capitalismo Consciente tiene cuatro principios: el propósito superior, la integración de los agentes implicados, el liderazgo consciente y una cultura y dirección conscientes”
― John E. Mackey, Capitalismo consciente

“Purpose, mission, and vision are often used interchangeably. However, it is important to maintain a distinction among the three. Purpose refers to the difference you’re trying to make in the world, mission is the core strategy that must be undertaken to fulfill that purpose, and vision is a vivid, imaginative conception or view of how the world will look once your purpose has been largely realized.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Steve McIntosh: En el reino de la consciencia y la cultura, la evolución es una calle de doble sentido. No solo tenemos que mejorarnos y llegar a la mejor versión de nosotros mismos, sino que también debemos intentar que durante nuestra breve estancia en este mundo podamos aportar algo que lo mejore. Esto no solo significa llegar a los niveles más altos de nuestra existencia, sino también compartir lo que hemos aprendido con quienes se encuentran en los niveles más bajos. El mundo está lleno de tribulaciones y sufrimiento, y aquellos que han llegado a elevados estados de consciencia tienen el deber sagrado de utilizar esta luz para cambiar el mundo.202”
― John E. Mackey, Capitalismo consciente

“Fear can be an effective short-term motivator; in a crisis situation, it can elicit extraordinary efforts for a short time. But as an ongoing policy, it’s a disaster. Why create an arbitrary 10 percent turnover? If everyone is doing well, everyone should stay.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, With a New Preface by the Authors: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“los negocios no son un juego de suma cero con un ganador y un perdedor, sino uno en el que todos ganan.”
― John E. Mackey, Capitalismo consciente

“Conscious Capitalism has four tenets: higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

“Any stakeholder can develop a deeply adversarial relationship with a business if conflicts are handled in unconstructive ways.”
― John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business