W. Douglas Griffin

Duluth, GA

The easiest way for Doug Griffin to describe what he does day-to-day at AGCO is to describe the people who report to him — three product marketing directors who oversee different lines, plus managers of advertising, demand planning, pricing, training, and advanced technology solutions. Griffin’s team is responsible for marketing a broad range of agricultural equipment, including the Challenger and Massey Ferguson brands, among others. North American sales accounted for nearly $1.5 billion of the company’s $6.9 billion worldwide net sales in 2010. It’s not just Griffin’s career that’s in agriculture; his heart is there, too. He grew up on an Indiana farm. Through Purdue’s cooperative education program, he worked for the agricultural division of Peoria-based Caterpillar, Inc., which extended his degree program to five years but provided invaluable work experience. A stint in marketing changed his career direction, if not his academic major: he credits his agricultural engineering degree for giving him a technical foundation that has been an advantage in business. After graduation, he joined Caterpillar full time in sales and marketing. He had advanced to North American sales manager when the company sold its agricultural division to AGCO in 2002. Griffin could have stayed with Caterpillar in another assignment. But his entire life was grounded in agriculture, and he chose to remain in the industry by joining AGCO. There, he was able to leverage the relationships he had developed over 15 years. He characterizes his managerial style as empowering qualified employees to perform well: “I’m interested in their ideas more than I am telling them what to do. I’m all about hiring good people and letting them be great.” Outside of work, family time is his first priority. Griffin, his wife Renee, and their three children live on a small hobby farm and spend a lot of time riding horses, kayaking, and hiking together.