Leading by example: Trust, grit, and goal setting key to leadership role

Vincent Courtney moved from a short-term temp position to managing a United Rentals’ workshop in the space of five short years.

“I like the hands-on part of the job,” says the 26-year-old of his role as Workshop Supervisor at United Rentals’ largest and busiest New Zealand branch in Auckland.

While running a team means he doesn’t get as many opportunities to do repairs and work on containers as he used to, he takes any chance he gets to jump on the tools.

“I love doing repairs and every day is different for our team,” he says of processing and repairing 50 or more containers a week.

The workshop plays a critical role in ensuring container hire product – which ranges from mobile storage units through to site offices and modified containers – are surveyed, repaired and available for rehire as soon as possible.

Meeting business targets

A key metric driving Vincent’s team is based on the turn-around time for making containers available with the aim of having each unit “rent ready” in no more than 36 days.

“That’s made up of three days to pick up the container once off hire, three days to survey and capture any damage, and then 30 days to complete any repairs required,” he says.

At the end of 2025, for the first time ever, the Auckland branch reached 100% availability on all stock in its yard.

“I back my team and I know what we can deliver,” says Vincent. “I know the goals we have as a business, and I match that up with what my team does. I used to feel the pressure of it when I was learning. But I've been doing it for a while now and I've got it well under my belt now.”

Meeting targets makes efficient workflow, prioritisation of jobs, and the ability to adapt an important part of workshop operations.

Operations Manager, David Harrison, says Vincent thinks strategically with business priorities in mind when surveying containers and making decisions about what work is required and how long it will take.

“Vincent is across everything,” he says. “He manages the workshop to a plan based on the key metrics that we perform to. He’s so good at knowing what's in the workshop, what needs to be focussed on, and how he communicates that to his team.”

Stepping out of his comfort zone

Vincent admits that when he first started, he knew little about doing container repairs and even less about how a successful business operates.

But by learning on the job and completing training courses funded by United Rentals, including a leadership and management certificate, he has enjoyed the challenge of stepping out of his comfort zone.

“When I first started, I was a blank page. A young guy fresh off the streets, ready to start a career. Since then, I’ve learned pretty much everything I know, and got all my hands-on experience through working with the team at United Rentals,” he says.

He says he has developed a solid understanding of the business and its commercial priorities “because I feel like it was trained into me”.

The transition from being “one of the guys” to leading a team was a major change but, he says, it was made easier because he had worked with the team for several years so had their trust.

Great job, great team

It’s safe to say Vincent loves his job, and having good people around him is a big part of that.

“They're very positive, friendly people, and they just enjoy rolling their sleeves up and getting their hands dirty. It’s a great team environment.”

With his rapid trajectory through the business and moving into a supervisor role, he was selected to take part in the Hire Industry Association of New Zealand’s (HIANZ) Young Professionals Program.

With regular workshops and a weekly meeting with an industry mentor, Vincent says he is learning leadership skills and building confidence to help take his career at United Rentals to the next level.

“I'm really enjoying it so far. I meet my mentor each week, and we’ll work through things I need help with, and I get tips on how to deal with any challenges.”

Together they have been working on ways to drive United Rentals’ 5S culture, a safety system – short for sort, straighten, shine, standardise, and sustain – to help prevent trips, slips and falls in the workplace.

“That's one of my main goals for the team to help improve the 5S culture by implementing more accountability in the workshop, better routines, and things to help everything flow better.”