True to Our Roots: Fermenting a Business Revolution

True to Our Roots sets forth the simple but powerful management principles that enabled Fetzer Vineyards under Paul Dolan to become one of America?s biggest and best-known wineries even as it was becoming a model for sustainable businesses everywhere. Today Dolan and Fetzer are leading the California wine industry toward profound change in how wineries and grape growers preserve their environment, strengthen their communities, and enrich the lives of their employees, without sacrificing the bottom line. This is truly a management revolution in one of the most globalized, competitive industries on Earth.

The principles Dolan discovered and developed at Fetzer can be applied to any business and by leaders at every level:

• Your business is part of a much larger system
• Your company?s culture is determined by the context you create for it
• The soul of your company is found in the hearts of its people
• True power is living what you know
• You can?t predict the future, but you can create it
• There is a way to make an idea?s time come

Filled with personal anecdotes and practical wisdom, this book offers inspiration and guidance to business managers who see the compelling need to build and grow healthy, sustainable organizations. For all readers, True to Our Roots provides both a fascinating glimpse into the California wine industry and heartening proof that business can do well by doing good.

"Higher quality products. Lower costs. 15 percent earnings growth for a decade. The largest selling brand in the industry. Sound good? In True to Our Roots, CEO Paul Dolan shows how he used the challenges of sustainability to catalyze a business revolution at Fetzer?to the benefit not only of wine connoisseurs and shareholders, but also workers, communities, and the planet. A very important read for anyone interesting in learning how to create truly sustainable value." Stuart L. Hart, S.C. Johnson Professor of Sustainable Global Enterprise, Johnson School of Management, Cornell University

"If you know Paul Dolan, it will come as no surprise that True to Our Roots is honest, thoughtful, and inspiring. This is Paul's story. It's about his respect for nature and for humankind and how he has found a path to serve both in creating a successful and sustainable business. Paul's ideas are of great importance. If his writings were wine bottles, you'd carry them to friends you care about." Robert H. Dunn, CEO, Business For Social Responsibility

"Read it and be inspired; more importantly, be convinced there's a better way to more honorable, and bigger, profits." Ray C. Anderson, Founder & Chairman, Interface, Inc.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-200) and index.

"True to Our Roots" tells how Dolan, CEO of Fetzer Vineyards, has led his company to sustained growth and excellence through groundbreaking concepts of management, coupled with a keen sense of environmental stewardship.

Paul Dolan believes that business leaders can help make a better world, and he sees Mendocino County, California, as fertile ground to grow this vision. As president of Fetzer Vineyards (1992-2004) where he also served as winemaker (1977-1992) and managing director for new products and strategic development with the wine group of Brown-Forman Corporation, he led a transformation that put the company at the forefront of organic viticulture and sustainable business. With the creation of Mendocino Wine Company (MWC), a partnership of the Dolan and Thornhill families, leadership in sustainable winegrowing continues, cradled in the open, creative atmosphere of Mendocino County. A native Californian descended from three generations of distinguished winemakers, Dolan graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in business and finance and holds a master's degree in enology from California State University, Fresno. Dolan serves on the boards of Wine Institute and Business for Social Responsibility, and is a founder of Wine Vision. He participated on President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development, and chaired the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance Board. Dolan continues to advocate for sustainability and organic farming based on the simple premise that his natural view of our relationship with the world is not only the right view, but also delivers better products and healthier lives.

Acknowledgments.

Preface.

Foreword

In this undated memoir, found after his death, Bernard "Barney" Fetzer describes finding and buying the run-down rural ranch where he ultimately founded Fetzer Vineyards.

Introduction.

Sustainability: Fetzer's Business Revolution

Fetzer has balanced economic success with environmental and social responsibility for more than ten years, winning innumerable awards for wine quality and sustainable business practices while growing the business 100 percent.

Chapter 1: Your Business Is Part of a Much Larger System

We are not alone, we are interconnected, and we can make a difference. This awareness opens up unlimited opportunities for transforming relationships with employees, suppliers, business partners, and other stakeholders.

Chapter 2: Your Company's Culture Is Determined by the Context You Create for It

With the right business context, sustainability is no longer a management concept or social philosophy, but a practical framework for concerted action by everyone throughout the organization.

Chapter 3: The Soul of a Business Is Found in the Hearts of Its People

Sustainable businesses must accomplish a transition from mere accountability—doing what's expected—to broader responsibility for maximizing profits in a way that heals the earth and supports human rights.

Chapter 4: True Power Is Living What You Know

Integrity is the root of sustainability. At Fetzer Vineyards, this awareness has driven everything from waste reduction and energy conservation to large-scale organic viticulture, worker housing programs, and "green" facility construction.

Chapter 5: You Can't Predict the Future, but You Can Create It

Fetzer creates its future from the future, by painting vivid pictures of new possibilities and managing its business "backward" from those pictures rather than forward from a present that's tied inexorably to the past.

Chapter 6: There Is a Way to Make an Idea's Time Come

Fetzer Vineyards has taken public stands on sustainable winegrowing, vineyard development, and zero waste. These stands have already begun changing the context for the California wine industry, by expanding people's understanding of what's possible.

Afterword: Grapes Into Wine

Making great wine is hard work—even when you've been doing it for decades. At the same time, growing premium wine grapes without synthetic chemicals is a choice that the entire industry could easily make.

Fetzer History and Future Development.

A Fetzer Vineyards Time Line Follow the company's progress from a small family operation to one of America's largest premium wine producers.

Fetzer Environmental Record Fetzer's efforts on behalf of the environment have been recognized locally, statewide, nationally, and internationally.

The Future of Fetzer: A Vision of 2005 How Fetzer has created the future from the future.

Resources.

Index.

List of Illustrations.