Throughout a distinguished 20-year army career, and after more than 23 years in the hire industry, there is one constant for Neil Littlewood, the importance of teamwork.
"When you're leading a business that's in growth mode, the key is to build something stronger than you inherited and then leave the business better than you found it. But that success comes down to a great team, not one individual."
What made you a good leader?
I believe in the strength of people and having faith in them. If you treat people with respect, it gets paid back in spades. For me, people make a business because if you don't have people, you don't have a business.
But also at the centre of it is the customer. If we can't supply the gear they want at that time to do their job in their timeframes, they've got so many other choices.
Why are you retiring now?
I've just turned 65. I have an adult son with special needs who's just about 40, which is getting harder for my wife Donna and I to balance. And Donna has been a champion running through all this. So, it's about family now.
From a career perspective, is now the right time too?
It's been the heart of my professional career to be able to lead this team and build something special. But everything has its natural time, and now we need the next evolution.
I'm going to look back with pride, knowing that we've come a long way, but the job is not done. The business continues to evolve, and it's exciting. I'm just handing the baton over to the next group of people to take that forward.
Take us through your journey from the Australian Defence Force to the hire business?
I left the Army on a high, which was nice. I walked away from a very strong leadership position as Director of Army Recruiting and managed to finish my MBA while I was serving. I joined Manpower, leading business development for the outsourcing of Australian Defence Force recruiting, which was a contract Manpower held for 20 years, which is extraordinary.
But it was the hire industry that kind of fitted my expectation of teamwork. No one in the rental industry is that good that they get the stuff done by themselves. Because if you are doing something at scale, you need to have a team around you.
What has been the most challenging part of your career?
The multiple acquisitions United Rentals has made, and integrating each of these businesses, has been very challenging but incredibly rewarding.
It meant I had to continually adjust and learn about new products, new businesses, and work with a wide range of people.
Where I may have been an expert in my products, I had to quickly become familiar with a whole lot more and then, for credibility, I had to be able to talk about those products to the team that worked with them every day!
The real challenge was getting wholesale buy-in from people across the business that the old ways of doing things had to change. But again, it comes down to the willingness and commitment of the team to make these changes. If you're an optimist and want to back yourself, you can make things happen.
What are you looking forward to in retirement?
It's all about family. We have a lot of travel plans that we've already booked for the next two years. I also gained 14 kilos during my time at Royal Wolf and United Rentals, so within 12 months I want to be back down to a much healthier weight.
I will have more free time for surfing too. Saturday morning, 15 minutes in the water, and it's like I've gone to therapy. It's time for yourself, just to be out there with your mates having fun.
And like I said, I'm going to look back with pride on what we achieved at United Rentals, and I'm looking forward to seeing this company continue to grow.