Day 11: Monday, April 13, 2020
John Mackey, Certified CC Consultants, and CC Press Authors
John Mackey, Certified CC Consultants, and CC Press Authors

The world needs more conscious leaders and what better time to show up as a conscious leader than right now
John Mackey: How To Lead Through Crisis as a Conscious Capitalist
On Day 11, John Mackey discussed what it means to be a conscious leader every day, shared some lessons on what he’s learned from crises in the past, and offered some invaluable insight into one of the most important elements of Conscious Capitalism, creating win-win-win solutions for all your stakeholders.
Here are the key takeaways from the webinar:
Crisis cuts away the non-essential and can help conscious leaders to rediscover what matters above all else: Purpose, service, and love.
John articulated the 3 key categories of Conscious Leadership: Vision and Virtue, Mindset and Strategy, and People and Culture and within those categories he discussed the staples of Conscious Leadership that matter in good times and bad: Put purpose first, Lead with love, Always act with integrity, Find Win-win-win solutions, Think long-term, Innovate and create value, Constantly evolve the team, Regularly revitalize, and Continuously learn and grow. He told us, “Purpose matters a lot, service matters a lot, love matters a lot. You’re reminded we’re all in this together. You do what you can to lead people and keep your organization alive while being of service. It gets down to the basics. The trivial starts to disappear.”
Past crises reveal that stakeholders always play a critical role in survival.
John recounted some of the direst crises he has endured over the last 40+ years as a business leader, acknowledging that with each crisis, staying true to the company’s higher purpose and working with stakeholders were the keys to survival.
Creating win-win-win solutions for all your stakeholders is a skill that gets better with practice.
John said it best when he said, “Finding win-win-win solutions is an ethical position; it’s a framework to see the world through, where you’re always asking ‘How can you win? How can I win? How can we all win?’ … Once you begin to think that way, your mind is unleashed to come up with creative, imaginative solutions to problems that cannot be solved when you’re stuck in a win-lose paradigm.”
Crisis creates opportunities for retreat and innovation. Whenever possible, choose innovation.
There’s a lot of regression during a crisis. People may turn inwards in an effort to retreat to safety. But a better strategy is to open your heart wider. John reminded us to “Take this opportunity to breathe deep and move forward. That will be a great accelerator toward consciousness.” The good news is that a crisis like this is able to disrupt the status quo, creating opportunities for innovation that were previously unforeseen. Conscious leaders will have numerous opportunities to be innovative and think long-term, to take their organizations places quicker than they would have gone if there had not been a crisis.
Six Keys to Progress in Your Company – featuring 6 Certified Conscious Capitalism Consultants
Conscious Capitalism is a practice and as such, it is always a work in progress. No company on earth is always conscious – we have blind spots to uncover again and again and again. Our role at Conscious Capitalism, Inc. is not to certify businesses. We don’t think there’s one way to “do” Conscious Capitalism or bring it to life; each company is different.
Certified Conscious Capitalism Consultants provide one way to give business leaders additional support to increase their practice of Conscious Capitalism, wherever they are on the journey.
Here are 6 key takeaways from the recently Certified Conscious Capitalism Consultants:
- Get in Conversation with your stakeholders. Even when we think we understand a situation, there’s always more to the story. All it takes is asking. When you ask, you learn something new. When we are curious about other people’s perspectives in the fuller story, it’s one of the best ways we can evolve in our conscious journey.
Tara Jenkins – Portland, ME - This is a long game. It’s going to be messy. The key is a establishing a regular routine with your team – a rhythm. Keep up the drumbeat in the workplace allowing for your team to find the rhythm and adjust.
Bob Scoville – Boston, MA - Conscious leaders can be on board and doing all the right things, but there needs to be systems in place that can support the work being done. Conscious companies need systems that support a way of living while at the business if they are to thrive long-term.
Kris Schaeffer – San Francisco, CA - Your company can begin its journey to Conscious Capitalism. Start with your own Conscious Leadership and your team will align.
Ed Quinn – Boquete, Costa Rica - Stakeholder orientation takes practice. People need to trip over the truth many times until they start to see it. Tuning up your values can help with this process.
Ravi Rai – Epsom, Surrey, England - The purpose of Conscious Capitalism is to elevate humanity through business. The grandness of that purpose can only be achieved if we all do our own work, getting better every day, week by week, month by month, year by year – elevate humanity through business.
Tim Kelley – Berkeley, CA
Learn more about the Conscious Capitalism Consultant Certification Program here. Accepting applications until April 17 for Class 3, just a few spaces left. Class 4 registration opens on May 1.
Conscious Capitalism Press- Meet the Authors
We heard from 3 outstanding authors who have recently released books through Conscious Capitalism Press: Laura Hall, LeeAnn Mallory, and Rosie Ward.
- Laura Hall – The ABC’s of Conscious Capitalism for Kids
Download a digital version here - LeeAnn Mallory – Guts and Grace: A Woman’s Guide for Full-Bodied Leadership
Download a digital version here
Download a Guts and Grace Mini Coaching Guide here - Rosie Ward – Rehumanizing the Workplace: Future-Proofing Your Organization While Restoring Hope, Well-Being, and Performance.
Download a digital version here
Download Rehumanizing Principles handout