Business leadership degree online

Byline: Michael Roth mroth@primediabusiness.com

Leadership is important in the rental industry just like it is in any business. Yes, it all comes down to the people who interact with customers on a daily basis; they are without question the key components that make the rental transaction successful. But leaders set the tone, decide the direction and often make decisions that differentiate the best performing companies from the average ones.

When business goes through its boom cycles, it's not so hard to make money and as we all know now, 2004 was a strong year for the rental industry. But when all the dust clears, the degree of success for most companies was probably decided in the preceding years. It wasn't so much what companies did in 2004, when demand for equipment seemed to be up all over, but the kinds of preparations that were made during the leaner years from 2001 through 2003. The challenging decisions made during those tough times probably set the stage to determine whether 2004 - and 2005 - will mean meaningful profits or temporary windfalls.

Take, for example, Gerry Plescia at Hertz. Plescia wasn't satisfied with business as usual and put a lot of effort into redefining his company's fleet. It was no longer good enough to say: "Here's the equipment mix we've always been successful with." He knew that business conditions were always changing and that HERC had to stay on the cutting edge to keep its strong market position. He asked himself and his staff, "Are we really responding to what our customers need?" To make sure, he attended dozens of meetings with customers and rode along with salesmen on sales calls to really ask the question, "What do you want from us?" He led a companywide re-focusing on the answers to those questions.

HERC's 2004 numbers are not yet available, but HERC probably would have had a good year anyway in 2004. No doubt, because of Plescia's efforts, it was even better.

This month's cover story takes a look at a number of those leadership initiatives. The way Don Ahern in Las Vegas refocused his company's sales efforts to reduce discounting and the risks he continually takes to keep his company at the forefront of his markets. The energy Joe Dixon has put into making The Home Depot a truly professional rental organization. The new emphasis on a full-service offering at NationsRent; the restructuring of Canada's Stephenson's Rental Services to gain more business from contractor customers who have known that company for decades; the development of Volvo Rents into a serious player on the national rental scene; the continuing strong management of United Rentals' Wayland Hicks and John Milne.

There are many other success stories not discussed in this issue that will be part of rental industry history. Leaders who have been around a while, such as Sunstate Equipment's Mike Watts, now one of the senior (in terms of years at the helm, not age) members of rental's leadership elite. And new leaders: The way Freek Nijdam helped reverse fortunes at Rental Service Corp.; the way Juan Carlos Mas and Graham Hood have done the same at Neff Rentals; the strong new leadership from Cliff Miller at Sunbelt and Andy Studdert at NES Rentals; and the dozens and hundreds of other, lesser known entrepreneurial owners and smart young executives that are bringing the rental industry to a higher level of sophistication.

I'm not sure if the rental industry is entering into a golden age in terms of leadership, or if it's more a matter of better times showing us that that leadership is bringing about more recognizable accomplishments. However we define it, it's good to see and have the opportunity to observe growth and innovation from rental's top executives.

While predictions of the Internet dooming magazines to irrelevance have been much exaggerated, RER has, like other magazines, watched the development of electronic media and participated in it through Web sites and electronic newsletters. RER is taking a new step with the launch of its first "webinar." While that may or may not really be a word, on Feb. 24 RER - with the appreciated sponsorship of JLG - will launch its first online roundtable discussion. This RER 100 Roundtable teleconference, which will include several of the people profiled in this issue, along with others, will be accessible on our Web site for at least 90 days after the live event. We invite all our readers to visit www.rermag.com for details and to tune in to this dialog and share your response with us.