当代最伟大的12位企业家

8. 约翰•麦基

公司名称：全食食品超市公司

销售额: 101亿美元

市值：155亿美元

员工人数：56,200

建议：以崇高的目标激励人

    1978年，约翰•麦基和他当时的女友蕾妮•劳森在奥斯汀一间维多利亚式的老房子里开了第一家素食食品店。他们当时并没有什么野心：目的不过是养家糊口，过得开心，帮助一些人吃得更好一些、生活得更健康一些。这一年，络腮胡子、头发蓬乱的大学辍学生麦基刚刚25岁，认为利润只是 “必要之恶”。

    弹指一挥间：如今全市食品超市（Whole Foods Market）已拥有超过300家超市和56,000名员工 (或“团队成员”)。这家高端食品零售商的成功已改变了业内许多主流竞争对手的经营方式。如今已经58岁的麦基说：“如果20年前你告诉我，沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）将成为全球领先的有机食品销售商之一，我会觉得太荒唐可笑了。”

    他是怎么做的？全食食品秉承的六大宗旨包括承诺销售最优质的天然有机产品，让客户满意和高兴，弘扬环保精神，等等。很多公司的使命宣言也充斥着崇高的字眼，但基本上只是空洞的口号而已。

8. John Mackey

Company:Whole Foods

Sales: $10.1 billion

Market Value: $15.5 billion

Employees: 56,200

Advice: Purpose inspires people.

    In 1978, John Mackey and his then-girlfriend Renee Lawson opened their first vegetarian food store in an old Victorian home in Austin. They had modest ambitions: to make a living, have fun, and help a few people live healthier by eating better. A bearded, shaggy-haired college dropout, Mackey had just turned 25 and thought profit was little more than a "necessary evil."

    Fast forward: Whole Foods Market now has more than 300 supermarkets and over 56,000 employees (or "team members"). The success of the upscale food retailer has changed the way many of the industry's mainstream competitors operate. "If you told me 20 years ago that Wal-Mart would be one of the leading sellers of organic foods in the world, I would have thought that was ridiculous," the 58-year-old Mackey says.

    How does he do it? Among the six fundamental precepts that are at the core of Whole Foods are a commitment to sell the highest-quality natural and organic products available, satisfy and delight the customers, and promote environmental stewardship. Many companies have mission statements with lofty principles that are little more than wall hangings.