Many of the people that have influenced me are your average
Joe’s and Jane’s. They have been
neighbors and friends, classmates and coworkers but occasionally they have been
more public citizens or high profile individuals. Some of the high profile folks on the list have
come across as kind of “high and mighty.”
They know that they are a big deal in town and they let everybody know
it. This is a story about a man that was
a big deal in town, but that was as down to earth as any neighbor and friend
that you could hope for.
Jim Wall was the president and publisher of the Deseret
Morning news when I first met him. He
had been in that position for many years when we first crossed paths. As the publisher of a major newspaper he had
enormous influence in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah. We met while we were both serving on the
board of directors for the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, later called
Visit Salt Lake.
The board is a large one and so while we had exchanged pleasantries
I did not really know Jim well until he volunteered as part of a group
committed to studying a large downtown hotel project. We ended up spending time together traveling
to Denver and meeting with people who had pursued a similar hotel project. I got to know Jim as a straight shooter, an
intelligent person and a friend of doing what is right. We started to spend more time together and I learned
some incredible things about Jim.
I learned about his service in the community where he served
on over twenty boards and committees, from the University Of Utah Board Of
Trustees to Chamber of Commerce Committees and charity boards. Now many people in important positions in the
community are on a lot of boards but he was not just a board members but where
he actively participated. He gave his
time, his talent and his heart to many important causes.
During this time I was reading Larry H. Millers biography
and found out that as a member of the U of U Board of Trustees Jim had been instrumental
in arranging a meeting between Mr. Miller and a group of Gay and Lesbian
students following a large controversy surrounding the movie Brokeback
Mountain. The story has received a lot
of attention as one that explains Larry Millers desire to understand people and
as a demonstration of his compassion. I
was impressed by Jim’s role as the facilitator who wanted to help bring
understanding to two sides of a difficult issue. This is the type of person that Jim is.
It was also during this time that Deseret news announced
that they were going to be having massive layoffs. They would be letting go nearly half of their
staff. Remember Jim was the president and
publisher of the paper which meant that he needed to pull the trigger on these
firings. In the process of letting all
of these people go Jim chose to also let himself go. He literally added his name to the people
being let go. He fired himself. Think about what that says about a
person. It was a bold and impactful
move.
Jim then became the President of the Sandy Chamber of
Commerce where he continued to serve in the community. During this time I presented an idea to
Jim. I was concerned about the lack of
community involvement and active board participation from young executives and
young business people that would soon become executives. Essentially it was a way to provide
mentorship from other community leaders to young up and coming business
leaders. Jim loved the idea. He helped me to cultivate it think through it
in more detail. We created a plan for
how this type of a program would work in Salt Lake. At the time I was so grateful for his support
and help. I could not have imagined what
great things would come from it. Jim led
a group at the time of some of the most influential people in Salt Lake
City. It was a group of business and
political leaders, people that had great influence. He decided that I should present my idea to
this group. They could offer feedback
and give me their thoughts.
So I had one of the most fascinating experiences of my
life. I sat in a meeting room with great
community leaders, folks like the governor, the CEO’s of large community
players like Questar, Ivory Homes and the Chamber of Commerce along with others. I was able to get feedback from the Minority
Leader in the Senate and the President of the U of U. We talked about my concern and my plan. Jim supported me and explained his excitement
for the idea. Ultimately we found that
there were some things in place in the city already that somewhat filled the
needs I was trying to address, but I was given a wonderful learning opportunity
with some people that I respect a lot.
It was interesting to talk with Jim about how he developed
relationships with each of the folks in that room. He told me that in many cases he had spent
time with their assistants and secretaries, learning their names and all about
them. He knew that if he got to know
them and showed genuine concern for them that they would help him to get time
with their bosses. For Jim that meant he
had relationships with countless assistants and secretaries because it was a
goal of his to have some kind of relationship with every major player in the
state. Something that he told me he felt
like he had accomplished with the exception of some of the Hill Air Force Base
upper ups. The very fact that something
like that was possible and that a person had done it fascinated me and made me
evaluate my relationships and capacity for influence in the community.
During the time that we were spending a lot of time together
Jim was called to oversee a mission in Louisiana. He left his job, but continued to serve right
up until the time that he left. He is
now in the middle of three years serving his church and his faith.
I have learned so much from my time with Jim Wall. From his example I learned how important
community service is, from his time with me I understood how important
mentorship is, from the way that he counseled me I learned how much more I have
to learn about the world. He put me in
positions to experience wonderful things that I will always remember. He opened my eyes to what a great community
servant looks like, and what they can accomplish. For those things and more I will always be
grateful for Jim Wall.
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