John Mackey

Certainty can end a conversation before it begins and prevent creative solutions from emerging. Curiosity changes the room: johnpmackey.com/the-best-lea…

Entrepreneurs look around and see opportunity. We’re oriented toward the future. We’re creative problem solvers. We’re optimistic. I can sit down with a young entrepreneur who’s just launched their first startup or an older one with a series of successful exits, a fellow grocery store founder, or the creator of a tech company, and I just know we’re going to find acres of common ground.

When I meet other entrepreneurs, there’s always a spark—an instantaneous recognition that we’re wired the same way. We might not agree on politics or religion or what to eat for lunch, but we view the world through a lens of possibility, and that creates an immediate bond.

Empowering your team changes everything. When you delegate with trust and clarity, you free yourself to focus on what truly matters: big-picture strategy, culture, and growth.

Living and working with polarities challenges leaders to embrace complexity and move beyond binary thinking. Conscious leaders don’t try to eliminate these tensions. They learn to manage them skillfully, recognizing that sometimes the path forward isn’t choosing one side over the other. It’s learning how to bring out the best in both: johnpmackey.com/why-great-le…

There is no more powerful source of creative energy in the world than an empowered human being.

I turned 73 this month, and I've been thinking about a question people always ask me: If you could go back and give your 25-year-old self some life advice, what would you say? Honest answer: he probably wouldn't have listened. And I wouldn't change a thing. Some of the best lessons had to be earned through mistakes. But for anyone who'd listen, I want to share 10 lessons: johnpmackey.com/ten-lessons-…

Choose love.

Love is the most important thing in life. That’s why we’re here: to go deeper into love. That’s our higher purpose.

I’m an optimist. I always have been. The lens we look through shapes how we show up, for ourselves and for everyone around us, so let me share why I think optimism is worth choosing, deliberately and consistently: johnpmackey.com/why-im-an-op…

Conscious leaders serve the business's higher purpose because they're personally aligned with it, and in doing so, they serve all stakeholders to elevate the business to a higher level.

Six months after breaking my neck on the Colorado Trail at 72, I returned to the Appalachian Trail and hiked 171.4 miles. Here's what it taught me about aging and living well: johnpmackey.com/what-a-broke…

Here are three books I’ve read recently that I keep finding myself recommending to people. They cover very different ground, but each one left a real impression on me: johnpmackey.com/johns-must-r…

Fueling up with @GoPlantstrong

A question I often get asked is why being able to delegate and empower Team Members is such an important leadership skill. I truly believe delegating is one of the most underrated yet most transformative skills a leader can possess. Read more: johnpmackey.com/delegation-a…

Choose to be present. Choose to let your heart open. Choose love over fear.

I recently spoke with the @CatoInstitute on the win-win mentality that powers free markets, why innovation outruns monopolies, and more: cato.org/free-society/winter…

My friends and I often host Jeffersonian dinners, and we’ve had so many wonderful and memorable conversations. One question. One conversation. Here’s why I love a Jeffersonian dinner: johnpmackey.com/why-i-love-a…

Business exists to create value, not just profits.

Just as happiness is best experienced by not aiming for it directly, profits are best achieved when they are not the primary goal of the business.