Inaugural Farm Equipment Hall of Fame Class of 2024: Ferenc (1932-2017) & Tom Rosztoczy

As he explained, the 7-course Aspiring Leaders program focuses on Stotz’s core values (quality, integrity, loyalty, caring and community). A new class starts every November, with the goal of completing the program in 2 years. When the program started, Rosztoczy personally taught all of the classes. He still teaches the first class, while other executive team members also teach. 

All managers at Stotz Equipment are required to take part in the program, not just the management trainees. “If you want to manage in our company, you must go through the program,” he says. 

Since starting the program in 2012, over 250 employees — more than 40% of the Stotz staff — have gone through the program. While Rosztoczy keeps expecting the program to “run its course,” he still sees another 30-35 staff sign up for the program each year. 

Jason Tucker, western regional manager for Deere, says Rosztoczy lives out Stotz’s core values. “I know him personally, and the quality, the integrity, the loyalty, community, all the things that they post as their core values. He literally lives those out and tells stories around those. How he interacts with his peers as well as Deere is superb,” Tucker says. 

Tucker adds other dealers want their people to learn from Stotz. “From a Deere perspective — and our passion of developing our dealers and this whole piece around talented capable individuals — it speaks volumes that many of our large, multi-generation dealers send family members to go work at Stotz Equipment. They want them to examine the culture and understand how they do things, and how they develop their people,” he says.

Not only do dealers turn to Rosztoczy and Stotz to help prepare their people, but Deere has called on them to teach as well, Tucker says. “We pull a lot of his people, especially his HR lead, to teach at John Deere events. That whole talent development and people strategy of the business, they just nail it.” 

Precision Pioneer

Tucker says Rosztoczy pushes the envelope when it comes to precision ag and challenges Deere to “develop and think through new and innovative ways in that space of precision technologies.”

He goes on to say that Stotz is “truly what I would call an elite leader in precision technologies. And it’s not just precision ag. Their data analytics, their capabilities that Tom has led within his organization to ‘skate ahead of the puck’ are phenomenal. There are countless examples in multiple segments of the business — from golf to agriculture to the commercial hay business, you name it. 

“They are a true leader, and Tom has been a proponent of that since before precision ag was cool. And I’m sure his dad was fortuitous in those kinds of thinking as well.” 

Leadership Styles

Ferenc applied the perspective of a scientist and researcher to running and leading the dealership. “He did a lot of reading and a lot of thinking,” says Rosztoczy. “And once the analysis  landed on what we should do, then that’s what we did.”

Rosztoczy recalls listening to many conversations where other members of the management team would push back and would ask if considered this or that. “He always had. At some point in the conversation, he would get tired of the pushback and would just say, ‘Look, I thought about this a lot longer than you have. This is the right thing. This is what we’re going to do.’”

Rosztoczy says this is one of the ways he and his father differed in their approach to leadership. “Whenever we would discuss directional or strategic things about the business, we'd agree quickly on the direction or strategy,” he says. “Where we differed was the style of implementing the strategy.”

Where they are similar, however, is on how data-and numbers-driven their thinking is. “Ferenc was all business and bright,” says fellow Van Wall Equipment’s CEO Don Van Houweling, who is in a 20 Group with Stotz. “Anytime he said something, you’d listen; wasn’t emotional. Tom and his two brothers (Rob and Teddy) are all brains too.” 

Stotz Equipment was named Farm Equipment’s Dealership of the Year in 2013. At the time, Steve Kost, former executive vice president of the Far West Equipment Dealers Assn., had this to say about Rosztoczy and the organization: “What makes them different is Tom as a leader and visionary. They saw early on what manufacturers were trying to do in consolidation. Besides that vision and leadership, they found the very best people they could — in terms of character, work ethic, ability and enthusiasm — and then trained them to perform as a team. They’re not afraid of new areas; they’ll put resources, time and money behind new things that will make them stronger. They’re looking forward all the time.” 

From Modeling the Culture section

“If you know Tom, I guarantee you, what you see from Tom is what everybody else sees … Tom is always polite, measured and thoughtful. He is always one of the last to speak. He listens intently, and that is to a large degree, part of the culture that he’s built within Stotz, as well.”

That focus on people is something Rosztoczy learned from Ferenc . “He walked the stores regularly. He knew everybody on a first-name basis. He knew about their spouses, kids and family situations. And we still have a lot of long-time employees,” Rosztoczy says. “That was what really translated for him from managing scientific research projects to ones that just focus on people.”

Rosztoczy says he learned from his dad how important it is to have A players on the team, and how important it also is to take care of those A players so they stay with the dealership.

A combination of the care Rosztoczy has for his employees and the culture has resulted in a long-tenured staff, particularly on the leadership team. “Our  leadership team has all been there a long, long time, some going on 30 years. Anybody that's new is because we added the position, not because they replaced somebody,” Martinez says. “The leadership team didn’t change. But it grew and that speaks a lot to Tom’s ability to build trust and relationships.”

Modeling the Culture

Scott Martinez, Stotz director of communications, says that what most separates Rosztoczy from his dealer peers is his passion for driving a culture. “Every company ends up with a culture that emulates its leader. Tom, more than most, is interested in developing and fostering a culture that he enjoys.”

Martinez says Stotz is not reactionary in its approach to business, and he credits that to the leadership team on down all learning how Rosztoczy reacts to situations. “We’ve all spent enough time with Tom to know how he’d handle things. The most successful people here learned quickly how he would react to a situation and we model that.”

The culture is also focused on the welfare of the people over everything else, Martinez explains. “Sure, we wouldn’t be the successful company that we are without him being profit-driven and all that, but you have to be a business leader. But I’ve never seen him sacrifice integrity for a dollar. Decisions never would come down to deciding what was right vs. what was profitable for the business. He just does the right thing.”

Tucker echoes this sentiment, saying Rosztoczy is transparent with the entire staff. “Tom doesn’t hold all that in. It’s not about Tom; it’s about trying his best to have every leader — and subsequently all the way down — every person in the organization capable of knowing and doing what he does,” he says. “And it’s that teaching and coaching, taking the time and being thoughtful and being mindful and providing and gathering feedback. Tom has instilled that in his leadership team and that goes down to the employees.” 

Tucker says anytime he has the opportunity to take John Deere leadership above him to Stotz Equipment he’s “giddy.” He says, “I know we’re going to get amazing feedback. We’re going to get amazing elements of what we’re trying to do and see it executed in the marketplace. 

“Tom is not a yes man. He is going to say, ‘Here are the things you’re doing right,’ but there’s always going to be an element of how do you get just a little bit better,” Tucker says. And that feedback on how to always improve goes for Deere, employees and other dealers, Tucker says.