Personality and Leadership

John Mackey; CEO Whole Foods Inc

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1.

I have chosen to present John Mackey, current CEO of Whole Foods Inc. Whole Foods is a national grocery chain that specializes in organic and naturally grown foods. The grocery store was started by Mackey and his girlfriend with a single store in Austin, TX in 1978.

Fishman, C. (2004). The anarchist’s cookbook. Fast Company, 84, 70 – 78.

Paumgarten, N. (2010). Food fighter. New Yorker, 85, 36 – 47.

Fox, J. (2011). What is it that only I can do? Harvard Business Review, 118 - 123

2.

John Mackey is a unique business leader in that his management style doesn’t necessarily reflect his individual personality. Mackey’s personality is low in extroversion and agreeableness but high in openness to experience. He is low self-monitored and individualistic. However the management style of Whole Foods is collective, with an extroverted atmosphere and a board room that is more than agreeable.

Individual personality is influenced by 4 major forces; cultural, hereditary, family relationships, and by social class and other membership forces. When considering the creation of Whole Foods we cannot dismiss the influence of the latter force. Mackey joined a vegetarian group while in college because, in his words, "I thought I would meet some really cool women there. And I did." (Fishman, 2004, p. 3) This was his first experience with alternative lifestyles and is what ultimately lead him to become a vegetarian and a health food entrepreneur, as he opened his first organic grocery a little more than a year later. Additionally Mackey inherited from his father a direct and sudden form of communication. We will discuss the effects of this trait when we consider Mackey’s level of agreeableness.

Of the Big 5 personality dimensions Mackey is high in conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability. However he is low in extroversion and agreeableness. He is a self proclaimed introvert as...