3 minute read
Q&AGR
FARMING OR AG BUSINESS? DAVE MAURER DOES BOTH
Alpha Gamma Rho Regional Vice President-Central Region Dave Maurer grew up trying to decide if he would have a career in business or in farming. As it turned out, he didn’t have to choose. He has done both for nearly 40 years. Dave grew up on his family’s central Illinois grain farm. This year will be his 45th crop and 13th year as manager and operator. Dave also is in his 37th year working for Corteva Agriscience (formerly Dow Chemical Ag, DuPont Ag and Pioneer Seed). A recipient of the company’s Marketing Excellence Award, he is now Commercial Manager for the Professional Pest Management and Turf & Ornamental businesses.
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Dave received a degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Illinois in 1984 and serves on the university’s Agricultural and Consumer Economics advisory board. He joined Alpha Chapter in 1980 and later served as Noble Ruler. Dave was named to the Atius and Senior 100 leadership Honoraries. He served as a State FFA Officer, is an American Farmer Degree recipient and received the 2020 Illinois Foundation FFA Distinguished Service Award. Dave and his wife Linda have two daughters, Jenn and Sarah.
Why do you serve AGR as a national volunteer?
Four primary experiences shaped my life and put me on a path to help me achieve the personal and professional success I am fortunate to enjoy today: Growing up on a farm, FFA, University of Illinois and AGR. I experienced all four because others before me created them and made them life-changing for me. I continue to support all four to help create similar life-changing experiences for others. I served four years on the Alpha Chapter Corporation Board and for the last 12 years as Regional Vice President for the Central Region. I also support the Educational Foundation of AGR.
Which leadership ideas do you emphasize with chapter leaders?
Fortunately, chapter leadership teams mostly work on issues that are not contentious. However, the few they do deal with, if handled poorly, can have a very negative impact on the chapter. A great tool for difficult issues is to use the rule of “80% agreement/100% commitment” for team decisions. This means the team needs to identify a solution with 80% team agreement. If short of 80%, the team must discover a better solution. When the 80% agreement solution is identified, the ENTIRE team needs to be 100% committed to it. Team members in the minority cannot weaken the team decision by sharing they didn’t support the decision. Another lesson I share is “it’s hard to be down on what you’re in on.” The phrase applies when a leadership team is addressing a difficult issue. The idea is to engage as many members as possible, either by vote or by voice. Fewer members will be “down on” it if they feel they were “in on” the process that led to the team decision.
What other life lessons can you share?
My grandfather’s formal education only went through the 6th grade. But he always joked that he had a Ph.D. — a Plow Handle Degree. What he did was read and learn his entire life. Even at age 100 he would share with me things that he had learned. Career success requires continuous learning. College is a great opportunity to “learn how to learn”! I’ve learned that the best quality of life comes from finding a career path, a personal life journey, and a work life balance you truly enjoy. Many people spend much of their work life aspiring to achieve a particular career position while not really enjoying the actual work that they did or the work life balance it required. They were doing it only to reach their goal. Don’t just work and live to reach the destination. Enjoy the journey. Another lesson I learned is to build a support network for guidance, but to make your own decisions. My father joined a non-ag fraternity, valued the experience and strongly felt I should do the same. I did not follow his advice. I joined AGR because AGR was better than what I saw at other fraternities. Over time, my father not only appreciated my decision, but he also told me on my last Dad’s Weekend that if he were to do it all over again, he would join AGR!
