Leadership Styles At Whole Foods: Team-Based Approach

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Teams are a part of every organization and some use teams more successfully than others. Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com) identifies -itself as a successful team-based company. Describing a well-constructed team-based organization includes many characteristics identifying such a company and why it is less hierarchical and more laterally based. Leadership styles at Whole Foods have a strong impact on the success of the team-based environment. The team-based management style at Whole Foods allows leadership to be more influential and results in less of a need for power. Whole Foods uses the team-based approach to management which naturally fosters teamwork and a progressive approach to success.
Characteristics of Team-based …show more content…

That’s one of our secrets, is the fact that we really do have a team approach the organization, an empowerment approach”. (Gear, Brian, 2010) Approaching business as teams at Whole Foods is said to result in less ego-centric decision making which can result in a sabotage of ideas and collective strategic approach. The company believes it is because of this approach that the `organization was able to recover from the recession so quickly. Having a team-based approach at Whole Foods brings team members together and creates trust resulting in a collective intelligence …show more content…

Feeling empowered and heard is a result of this environment. Leadership is believed to be familiar with all aspects of the duties asked of team members. According to In-store Educator Rachael Silva, “no member of leadership is asking anybody to do something that they’ve never done themselves. It’s absolutely a team sort of structure.” (Sturdevant, Matthew, 2014) Management is not a top-down model at Whole Foods and leadership power and influence comes from a different angle in this approach. Encouragement of team members to participate creates feeling of safety and trust. Team members believe that their core values are in alignment with the personal values. Employee surveys have concluded that employees consider managers to be aware of the needs of customers and employees, alike. Advancement and training opportunities are also available to team members at Whole Foods allowing employees the feelings of loyalty and encouragement. Reducing employee turnover and increased retention has be a valuable side-effect of the team-based management approach at Whole

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