Frank Yukich (Montana Wines Founder) quietly delivered a gem on Campbell Live the other evening, I bet you missed it, I nearly did and I was actually watching the program.  The show focused on the Marlborough wine region and on Sauvignon Blanc in particular. Lucky for me I caught the end of the interview with Yukich who planted the first Sauvignon Blanc grapes near Blenheim in the late 1970’s.

Back then, who was to know that the wine produced in Marlborough from this grape variety would become world famous?   Not many Kiwi’s had even heard of Sauvignon Blanc in 1979, yet today New Zealand produces over 150,000 tonnes per year and 90% of that huge amount is produced in Marlborough.  
Campbell claims that Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has done what the All Blacks couldn’t by beating France in Britain. And he could well be right, this wine has done more to put New Zealand on the international map than notable exports like lamb, butter, Kiri Te Kanawa and maybe even the All Blacks.

Yukich comes across as a humble man with that Southern weathered look about him, clearly a man who has worked hard all his life. I wasn’t listening that carefully to the interview and have to admit I’m no wine buff but my ears pricked at the very end when Yukich succinctly summarised his vision and his approach to business success;

 “In business you have to dream

And if you are going to dream you need a plan

And when you have a plan you have to act

And to act you must believe.”

And his vision was also compelling and simple;

 “Wines from here will become world famous”

The new grape, which turned out to be ideally suited to New Zealand, was not immediately successful. Three quarters of Yukich’s first crop (over 1,000 acres) died and had to be replanted. These were lean times when New Zealand wine had little or no reputation overseas and at home Kiwis were more likely to be drinking Aussie reds or Chateau Cardboard. Once the sauvignon vines started to produce grapes, Yukich and other winemakers still needed to make good wine and convince distant markets to take them seriously. They needed to keep cash flowing in difficult early days and to scale up to meet market demand when it finally arrived. Needless to say, without a dream of producing the world’s best Sauvignon Blanc, the ability to plan and the commitment to act – this may never have happened. It wasn’t clear though if the ‘belief’ existed from the start or if it grew over time.

There is nothing like achievement for building belief. Even in tough times completing milestones feels good, the confidence that comes with achievement makes next steps comprehensible, even inevitable; achievement could well be a drug. If it is, it’s a drug that getting hooked on can build belief beyond religious or political ideologies.

Dreams can be hazy, abstract, confusing, scary, exciting and hugely enjoyable. They take us places we might otherwise never go and tap into levels of consciousness that unleash surprising power. As Yukich knows, the power to act and to keep acting is key and not necessarily sticking with the original plan. Now more than ever those of us in business know we have to adapt plans to suit changing conditions.  During challenging times businesses cannot afford to batten down the hatches in the hope that things will get better, we need to revise plans and believe in ourselves and our people, but most importantly to believe in the value we offer customers and in our determination to deliver.

I wonder is there room in our crowded political landscape for yet another political group? Call it the Achievement Party. We already have Act, a bit too right leaning for many of us but to be fair to Rodney Hide and Co, they get on with stuff, it’s as though they feel pressure to live up to their name.

I’d vote for The Achievement Party if it did likewise.