May 2007

A golden opportunity to learn from a master

In 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California. Over the next seven years, more than 300,000 people from around the world flocked to what is now San Francisco in search of some fame and whole lot of fortune. Few found either.

This is not so much a history lesson as it is a parallel that I found myself drawing between being a forty-niner and writing an article lauding the many accomplishments of John Wolf.

On June 4 th, Wolf will be honored at The Chamber’s Business Excellence Dinner with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for Business Excellence. With everything that he’s done, with all the people that he’s touched, with all the organizational causes that he’s spearheaded, getting people to talk about John Wolf is a walk in the park.

Getting John Wolf to talk about himself is next to impossible.

So I sit at my computer – my own Sutter’s Mill – knowing that there’s an abundance of gold here but darned if I can find it. I sift large piles of information and occasionally a shiny pebble will get clogged in the screen. But it’s not gold and it’s not going to be.

And that’s exactly the way John Wolf likes it.

Like Bill Campbell, last year’s honoree for Business Excellence, Wolf is a deflector. Ask him about his business philosophy and he’ll deflect the attention to his subordinates. “Our associates really understand the importance of putting our customers first,” he told me. “Retail is very demanding. Those people really do a great job.”

What was my question again?

So I ask about the crucial decisions that he made to streamline the company’s operations that have resulted in a renaissance in the furniture industry throughout the tri-state area. Surely the pride alone that he must feel would get him to open-up and blow his own horn a little bit.

No chance.

“My grandmother (Annie C. Wolf) had great empathy for people. She was always concerned about helping people to maintain their dignity. She built this business during the Depression after my grandfather died and while she was raising five children,” Wolf explained. Then he smiled. And I kept sifting.

I reminded him for what seemed like about the hundredth time that the Business Excellence Award was not an award for his company or his grandmother. It was to honor him. He nodded in acknowledgement. Then he changed the focus once again.

“I’d really like Doug (his son, the president of Wolf Furniture) to be included in this,” he emphasized. “He’s been so instrumental in what we’ve been able to accomplish here. He’s a take-charge guy. I’m so proud of all my children. They’ve used their talents in so many interesting and productive ways. Family’s the thing. It’s what this is all about.”

It was at that point that I looked around for the white flag.

As Wolf continued to talk about the two main sources of inspiration in his life – his Catholic faith and his wife Ann – I realized that he wasn’t trying to be intentionally difficult. He just really wasn’t comfortable with the spotlight pointed in his direction. He really did understand that the friendships and relationships that he had built throughout the years had shaped his character and allowed him to be successful and admired at the same time. And he was tremendously thankful for all of those people and wanted to make certain that they shared in whatever honors came his way.

Why this was so difficult for me to grasp is an even bigger mystery. This is the sixth time that the Business Excellence Award has been given. So I have had the opportunity to witness this type of selflessness five other times.

My research into the California Gold Rush indicated that a few of those who made the long journey to find gold actually found some and tossed it away, not realizing what it was. My guess is, they never really knew what they were looking for.

It’s an easy mistake to make.

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