商业团队6大样板盘点

    全食公司的高管们是真心彼此喜欢。

    全食公司（Whole Foods）的七个高管组成的“e团队”互相的亲密和信任在其他大企业里很难看得到，这也让全食公司的高管层得以保持高度的专业性。公司的共同CEO约翰•麦基与常务副总裁杰姆•萨德已经是47年的老朋友了。当年他们还只是十几岁的半大孩子，经常带着自己的女朋友一起约会。（萨德的5000美元投资对全食的创业起了重大作用。）1988年财务总监格兰达•弗拉娜甘加盟公司的时候，全食公司只有6家门店。她和麦基住在奥斯汀的同一个小区，两人经常早上一起散步。虽然七位高管分别驻扎在加州、马萨诸塞州、马里兰州和德克萨斯州的办事处，但他们经常抽时间在一起聚聚。今年春天，全食公司的整个高管团队将赴维京群岛度假。麦基说：“我们就是喜欢一起出去玩。”那么它是如何促进公司的业务增长的？麦基称，高度的信任使他们能够更好地相互沟通，而且出现问题和分歧时也有利于大家齐心协利解决问题。今年全食公司将新开设33到38家门店，公司的营业额也将攀升11到12个百分点。因此谁也难给他们的友谊挑出毛病。——Jennifer Alsever

    The folks who built hot grocer Whole Foods actually like one another. A lot.

    Whole Foods' "e-team" of seven top executives possesses a closeness and trust seldom found in big corporations that keep the C-suite strictly professional. Co-CEO John Mackey has been friends with executive vice president Jim Sud for 47 years, dating back to when they were Houston teenagers, going on double dates together. (Sud's $5,000 investment helped the company get started.) Chief financial officer Glenda Flanagan joined in 1988, when Whole Foods (WFM, Fortune 500) had just six stores. She and Mackey live in the same Austin neighborhood and often go on morning walks together. Though they're scattered in offices in California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Texas, the seven executives try to spend time together outside the office. President A.C. Gallo once toured Croatian villages with Flanagan and Mackey. This spring the entire executive team will head to the Virgin Islands for a beach vacation. "We just like hanging out together," says Mackey. How does this translate into good business? Mackey says their high degree of trust means better communication and a willingness to work things out when problems and disagreements arise. With 33 to 38 new stores opening this year and revenue expected to climb 11% to 12% this year, it is hard to argue with his approach. (For more, see "Whole Foods takes over America.") --Jennifer Alsever