Whole Foods CEO John Mackey on his deep conviction that business leadership should not be only about maximizing profits for shareholders, but also about deliberately pursuing the many other positive impacts good businesses can have on their stakeholders.

In 1977 John Mackey moved into a vegetarian co-op, became its food buyer, and went to work in a natural foods store, putting him on the path to founding Whole Foods. An iconic brand, Whole Foods dominates natural-foods retailing in the United States. Mackey talked to HBR about how top management functions at the company (decisions are made by consensus), his sustainable seafood initiative, and what he means by "conscious capitalism." Among other things, conscious capitalism recognizes the stakeholder model, whereby customers, employees, investors, suppliers, larger communities, and the environment are all interdependent. Conscious leadership and a conscious company culture-which allows the organization to fulfill its higher purpose-are important ingredients as well. Part of Whole Foods' higher purpose is realized through the Whole Planet Foundation, which has set up microlending organizations in the communities where the company actually trades. "Nothing we've ever done in our history has created more goodwill with our team members than that," Mackey says.