True to Our Roots: Fermenting a Business Revolution

Paul Dolan with Thom Elkjer

Retail Price: $27.95 LS Price: $19.57 You Save: $8.38 (30%) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours Format: Hardcover, 240pp. ISBN: 9781576601501 Publisher: Bloomberg Press Pub. Date: November 2003 Average Customer Review:

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True to Our Roots is the story of one company's progressive and inspiring agenda to change the very nature of the California wine industry. Paul Dolan, the CEO of Fetzer Vineyards, realized in the early 1990s that deep and lasting change was needed in the way grape growers and wine makers used the land and the resources around them. His extraordinary leadership and commitment allowed Fetzer to evolve into a model of "sustainable business," enhancing the lives of employees, boosting the bottom line, and protecting the Earth.

Seizing on Fetzer's success, Dolan leveraged his standing among his peers to encourage others to think and act in a new way, resulting in a new environmental mandate for northern California's wineries. Dolan's revolution is outlined through his six principles of sustainable leadership for any business:

• Your company's culture is determined by the context you create for it
• Your business is part of a much larger system
• True power is living what you know
• The soul of your company is found in the hearts of its people
• You can't predict the future, but you can create it
• There is a way to make an idea's time come

This book provides inspiration and personal guidance for executives and managers attempting to build or maintain modern and healthy organizations. For all readers, True to Our Roots offers both a fascinating glimpse into California's legendary wine industry and the heartening, encouraging outlook that business can do well by doing good.


Reviews

"Paul Dolan has not only led the way to sustainability in California viticulture, but has demonstrated that one person in one company can transform an entire industry. If only there were a roomful of Paul Dolans in America, we would be a profoundly different and better country in twenty years. May it be so."

—Paul Hawken
Author, The Ecology of Commerce

"There are but few companies worldwide that are actually taking positive and active steps toward sustainable commerce. Paul Dolan has led Fetzer Vineyards with a strong commitment to define new business principles for the future. I commend Fetzer for forging this path and Paul Dolan for documenting the defining principles in this book."

—Yvon Chouinard
Owner, Patagonia, Inc.

"Paul Dolan is my hero. He's the best example out there of how to create genuine sustainability in a business while being part of a publicly traded company. This is no small feat. Dolan pulls it off because he manages truly from his heart. His book is an inspiration."

—Marjorie Kelly
Cofounder and Publisher, Business Ethics magazine
Author, The Divine Right of Capital

"Businesses have a new bottom line to work towards: sustainability.  Read True To Our Roots to understand its importance and how to achieve it.  It may make the difference between success and failure."

—Harry Paul
Co-author, FISH! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

"Paul Dolan writes compellingly of new possibilities for business and the potential to change the way we work and live and sustain our planet for future generations. Going beyond the conventional wisdom, he demonstrates how we can, with enough courage and imagination, reshape the world in a more equitable way when business invests in the well being of its employees, the community, and the environment."

—Arnold S. Hiatt
Former CEO, Stride Rite Corporation
Chairman, Stride Rite Foundation

"Paul Dolan is a provocative and creative leader who has provided an insightful pathway of excellence not just for the current generation but for generations to come. True to Our Roots was illuminating to read, and re-read, containing gems of wisdom that go beyond our vineyards and wine cellars to rules of conduct for everyday life.  His axioms and guidelines can be applied to all of competitive enterprise."

—John A. De Luca
Executive Vice Chairman, Wine Institute

"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

"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

"Ever wondered what sustainability tastes like? Paul Dolan knows. Uncork. Savour. Understand. Adopt. And adapt."

—John Elkington
Cofounder and Chair, SustainAbility

Paul Dolan has been since 1992 the president and CEO of Fetzer Vineyards, one of the six largest wineries in the United States and among the jewels in the crown of quality consumer products marketer Brown-Forman Corporation. A native Californian descended from a family of winemakers, he has successfully integrated his personal interest in sustainable business practices into day-to-day operations at Fetzer.

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

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