Leadership Conference delivers on industry connections and motivation
By Connie Lannan
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Leadership Conference delivers on industry connections and motivation

After a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, the American Rental Association’s (ARA) annual Leadership Conference — one of ARA’s premier invitation-only conferences — was back as a live event Nov. 18-20. To the industry volunteers who gathered at the conference, it was a welcome return to a forum where they could gain skills and make connections to enhance their service to their respective ARA chapters.

The conference, held at the Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Ill., welcomed more than 50 ARA state and local leaders — many of whom serve as presidents, vice presidents and officers of their state chapters. In addition to these, current and incoming members of the ARA Board of Directors were in attendance to lend their insights on association leadership.

The event opened Thursday, Nov. 18, with a presentation titled “Develop Your Comic Vision,” by Tim Gard. Gard, a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, delivered laughs through his message that focused on harnessing humor as a skill to prevent or cope with stress.

The conference continued Friday morning with opening comments and association strategic updates from ARA CEO Tony Conant. Attendees then heard from guest speaker Tim Dixon, who launched into the first of four leadership-themed sessions held during the conference.

With a master’s degree in sports psychology and 13 years of coaching experience — including time spent at the U.S. Air Force Academy — Dixon brought with him the credentials to provide a high-energy and challenging, yet good-humored, message that offered a perspective on leadership on a variety of personal and professional levels.

Updates on ARA initiatives — including RentalU, industry economic research and government affairs — also were provided Friday by ARA staff members between Dixon’s sessions, as was a greeting from conference sponsor ARA Insurance.

Friday afternoon concluded with a presentation from special guest Karen Layng, national president of the Girl Scouts of the USA. As a tie-in with ARA’s Women in Rental initiative, Layng discussed the many rental-related professional roles for which involvement with the Girl Scouts prepares girls and encouraged ARA leaders to partner with local Girl Scouts chapters to introduce rental as a viable career path for girls and young women. 

Friday evening, all were invited to participate in a networking session that featured a dueling-pianos show starring talent from Chicago’s “Howl at the Moon” venue.

The conference concluded Saturday, Nov. 20, with a final leadership session from Dixon and additional ARA national updates, including a look at the consumer-facing, professionally produced media commercials that are part of ARA’s rental marketing campaign and progress made in the workforce development arena through the ARA Job Board.

For first-time Leadership Conference participant Patrick Reynolds, owner, Journey Productions, Lawton, Okla., who serves as ARA of Oklahoma president, the weekend offered a great mix of information and networking.

“I learned a lot. The presenters were great. I received information that I can apply to my state board and to my business,” he says.

On the leadership front, Reynolds says he “received a good dose of suggestions on how to be a better leader, get out of my team’s way to let them do what they are supposed to be doing and improve communications with my team, my board members and rental operators within the state. I also received information on how to be a little more lighthearted and not take things so seriously in certain situations.”

In addition to the information gathered from the speakers, Reynolds says the networking with other state chapter leaders was very helpful.

“We had lots of opportunities to meet others. I discovered in talking with other store owners that we all have similar issues and problems, whether you are a multimillion-dollar company or a small company. It was heartwarming and gratifying. We talked about what they are doing at their operations that I could use at my operation. And I also discovered just how much all of us are doing the same things in our associations. It was eye-opening to be able to take the ideas about doing a better job communicating with and staying in touch with our members. I hope to expand on those ideas in our state chapter,” he says.

For Kerrigan Ambers, district sales manager of the Oklahoma/Arkansas district, United Rentals, Rogers, Ark., who serves as ARA of Arkansas president, attending the conference again helped him hone his leadership skills and learn new opportunities for collaboration and recruitment.

“This conference always is a good time. The speakers offered me opportunities to learn and develop my skills on personal and professional levels, hear best practices from my colleagues and gave me tools and resources I can take back to my chapter to guide us this year,” he says.

Ambers was particularly intrigued by Layng’s presentation about the Girl Scouts.

“I guess I was clueless. I am always looking for ways to recruit females into our industry. I was a Boy Scout for a year. I never thought about what a Girl Scout does to earn a badge,” Ambers says.

“One of the top badges is the Gold Award — the highest award a Girl Scout can achieve. She talked about what it takes to get the badge — the entrepreneurship, financial literacy, that they do some coding, work on mechanical engineering skills, do robotics and even tap into skilled trades like construction, electrical and automotive. They also deep-dived into the STEM side of the industry. Once I stepped back, I said, ‘Wow.’ I have just thought about them selling cookies, but I learned about the entrepreneurship skills those young ladies use. I never thought about going to visit to speak with a troop and do a presentation or think about recruiting once they move into the workforce. It was eye-opening and amazing,” he says.

He also found Dixon’s presentation on supportive leadership very valuable.

“Right now there is a lot of turnover; people are wanting to explore other options. They are looking for employers who care and they want opportunities for growth. They want something beyond the paycheck, which centers around the type of culture your organization brings to the industry. Empathy can play a big role in that. With everything that has been going on with team members in their personal life or at work — the empathy and the supportive leadership part stood out to me the most. I can see that with my work at United Rentals,” he says.

He also can utilize this with his board members and other members in his state. “This will allow me to think outside the box and challenge the norm — offer different perspectives to myself as well as my board members and our members,” Ambers says.

Like Reynolds, Ambers found the networking with other state leaders beneficial. “It’s always good to have those connections. I can reach out to these people and also offer a recommendation of who I met in another state to a board member who would like to talk with someone out of the state and brainstorm an issue,” he says.

He also appreciated the update on ARA resources. “I will share with my board and our other members. I know everyone is talking about the need to recruit more employees. I will share information about the ARA Job Board and the promo code for five free listings as well as the new training and the big push for RentalHQ with more digital social media ads. That push into my state will get some new users and customers. That will be helpful for everyone in my state,” Ambers says.

Connie Lannan

Connie LannanConnie Lannan

Connie Lannan is special projects editor for Rental Management. She helps plan, coordinate, write and edit ARA’s quarterly regional newsletters, In Your Region. She also researches, writes and edits news and feature articles for Rental Management, Rental Pulse, supplements, special reports and other special projects. Outside of work, she loves to bake for others, go for walks with her husband and volunteer for her church and causes she believes in.

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