Climbing The Corporate Ladder
John Lagemann has had a remarkable business career. From his youth in Concordia, Lagemann rose to become one of the leaders of a legendary American corporation: John Deere. But having a conversation with him is like talking to your neighbor about the weather. Humble, easy-going, mild-mannered – you would have no idea that he was once a corporate titan.
Lagemann's family moved to Concordia when he was in the 4th Grade, after his father bought the local John Deere dealership: Concordia Tractor, Inc. “I worked there part-time for a few years,” Lagemann said, then chuckled and added, “but I spent most of my time on the farm doing what my dad had a hard time getting other folks to do. Like baling and putting up hay, plowing with a 4010 tractor that didn't have a cab, and combining with a 55 combine with no air conditioning.”
After Lagemann graduated from Concordia High School in 1976, he attended Cloud County Community College for one year, and then Kansas State University. He graduated in 1980 with a bachelor of science degree in Feed Science and Management. He obtained his master's degree in Business Administration in December 1981.
“I didn't even know I would go to work for Deere until late in 1981,” Lagemann said. “I was looking at companies like Cargill, the Federal Land Bank, and Ralston Purina. I was actually pretty serious about taking a job offer from Cargill.”
But instead, Lagemann went to work as a marketing rep for Deere & Co. in January 1982. As a new hire, he was at the bottom rung of the ladder for a big corporation with over 60,000 employees. “As it turned out though, I was lucky to have a job because those were tough years for the agricultural industry, and Deere, like other companies in Ag, reduced their workforce significantly over the next decade.”
After six months on the job, Lagemann was promoted to an Area Service Manager and moved to northeast Nebraska. His climb up the corporate ladder had begun. After two years in Nebraska, he was promoted to a territory manager in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for two years, and then to Dodge City for another three and one-half years. “As a territory manager, you're the representative for Deere in a given area. You're responsible for just about everything but the technical service.”
Lagemann was again promoted, this time to Wichita as a training manager and then to Kansas City as a division sales manager. He now had six territory managers working under him. “I never really had any specific career plans,” he said. “I just always treated the job I had as if it might be the last job I was going to have. And I really enjoyed what I was doing. I was dealing with employees, customers, and dealers.”
After a little over two years in Kansas City, Lagemann was promoted to the marketing manager for the John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Illinois.
“That was a pretty intense job,” Lagemann recalled. “I dealt with everything from engineering and manufacturing, to supply management. I even dealt with the local labor rep for the union. I was also responsible for introducing new products. The position had full visibility.”
It was while Lagemann was in this position that John Deere rolled out one of the biggest new product launches in its history: the rotary combine. “As I reflect on those times at Harvester Works, they were challenging but also rewarding because of the experience I gained on the manufacturing and engineering side of the business.”
Lagemann was at John Deere Harvester Works for five years, and then in January, 2000, he was named the Managing Director of all John Deere’s business in Australia, New Zealand, and East Asia. Lagemann moved his family to Brisbane, Australia, a city of over 2 million people. Time-wise, Australia is 15 hours ahead, but the actual distance from the United States is even more startling: about 10,000 miles. If the Lagemanns had to return home, it was over a 24-hour journey.
“Australia was an interesting and fascinating country. They're fun-loving people, but also hard workers. And even through they speak English, it is a foreign country. So many things are different: laws, customs, traditions, schools. While it was a unique experience for my wife, Shawn, and our 3 kids (ages eight, 11, and 13), it was also a challenging one because of the complexities of adjusting to living in a different country halfway around the world.”
Lagemann was John Deere's main representative in that part of the world. “I found the work extremely interesting ” he said. “Dealing with foreign countries and their constituents. In addition to Australia and New Zealand, we did business in places like Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, and Taiwan. The job definitely presented new challenges, but it was exciting.”
The Lagemanns were living in Australia when Al-Qaeda terrorists struck the United States on 9/11. “My phone rang at 2 a.m., and it was one of my marketing managers. He said: “You better turn on your television”. We watched as the second tower was hit. It was just so unbelievable, and to see all of that happen from afar. To see the reality of it from the perspective of living in a foreign country. I remember driving into work on the 12th, and we didn't really know what was going on. Was this going to be an attack against American interests in foreign countries, too? Deere is an iconic American company so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got to work that morning. The American Embassy even called, checking on our family.”
In 2002, Lagemann was again promoted and returned to Kansas City, where he became John Deere's Vice President of Sales for all of the United States and Canada. As with every new job and responsibility he was given, Lagemann embraced the opportunity. “I really enjoyed this job,” he said, “because I got to work with dealers again, both on their current business and also on future strategies. This was definitely a space I was comfortable with because of my personal background.”
In 2009, Deere corporate added Australia and New Zealand to Lagemann's area of responsibility, and also put him in charge of marketing as well as sales for the same geography.
In 2012, Lagemann was named the Senior Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. In 2019, he also gained strategic sales responsibility for Europe and Asia.
On August 26, 2021, John Lagemann retired from Deere as a Senior Vice-President.
“I hope that I've never really wavered from who I was when I started with Deere,” he said. “And I'm also very proud to have been a piece of their long and storied history in Agriculture. During my tenure, we launched a revolutionary line of new combines, transformed our dealer organization, and established our position in precision agriculture. I was fortunate enough to be part of all of those significant periods in Deere’s history. I’m also proud that during this time, we never wavered from what is most important: working with our dealers to provide value and care for our customers. I can also truly say that I was still as excited about my job on the last day of work as I was the first day I started.”
Lagemann now resides in San Antonio, Texas. He has a number of personal interests, but particularly enjoys golfing, reading, and catching up with his grandkids whenever possible. On the professional side, he sits on a couple of boards, does some consulting work, and even teaches a few classes. In December 2021, he was the commencement speaker for the Business College at Kansas State University.
“My message to the graduates was really what I think helped me in my career, and it's also how I try to lead my life,” Lagemann said. “There are four core values: integrity, work ethic, resiliency, and humble confidence. And always, treat everyone like you would want to be treated.”