Well for all my listeners, thank you again for coming back to Inside personal growth, especially the ones that are faithful and come back again and again and again to listen to the show. Joining me from Las Vegas, Nevada, is Taylor Scott. And Taylor has a new book out called give hospitality. He had one prior to that, and another one too, lead with hospitality. And I want to put that one up there too, because we'll be making references to both of these books and links in the show notes below to Amazon for the books. Good day to you. Taylor. How hot is it in Las Vegas today.

Well, I just took a walk, and it's pleasant still right now. So 8am so pleasant. My wife and I were hanging out by by the pool yesterday. We don't have a pool, but we go to a place here in town. We're like, okay, May is still tolerable, but we're right on the cusp. We're about to, we're about to enter into full summertime heat here in the

valley. Yeah. Well, that's when the prices of hotel rooms. And by the way, folks, we're going to be talking about hospitality if you're going to Las Vegas, and not that if you can withstand the heat, you'll see all kinds of deals during the summertime Las Vegas for rooms and you can get yourself nice and toasty. Well, Taylor, I'm gonna let the listeners grow. Welcome to Inside personal growth. Thanks for being on the show. I'm really excited to have you, because you've got a great book here give hospitality, and at a time when burnout and turnover is at all time high, we were just talking about that and then just trying to find people for this industry, Taylor provides the spirit kind of of generosity key to bringing our divides and engaging the best in others regardless of the differences. He draws on 20 years of experience of working with places like Disney parks and resorts, Gaylord Hotels and Resorts. That's the one in the south right down that's one in Orlando, Yep, yeah, yeah, the cosmopolitan Las Vegas. He's crafted really a unique approach, and we're going to get in that. He holds a BS in business administration from Florida Southern College, and a Masters of management and hospitality from Cornell. I didn't even know Cornell had a master's in that. So we're going to get into his book. Taylor, how you know, when you and I did the pre interview for this show, you talked a little bit about your dad, and you spoke about and I still remember it today, the values that he held, and the fact that you just kind of have to keep going, right? I remember that, and I think that's true for anybody. But how did you get into this gig, and what makes you so dispassionate about it?

Wow, that's a good question to lead off with, yeah, but I mean, I wanted to, like my like the story I told you about my dad. My dad always told me he wanted to be in politics, and then he became a lawyer, and he wanted to be in politics, and somehow, some way, just by, I guess, the way he showed up as a lawyer in a small town in Kentucky. He became the go to guy for, like, all different things, and he predominantly did divorce like he was a divorce lawyer in eastern Kentucky. He's still practicing law today, and he would always tell me that I never really wanted to do that, but it's just kind of what came his way. And so he just leaned into it, and I watched him. Obviously, I'm 45 years old, and he's been a lawyer ever since I joined the planet. And I just watched how he approached it. He just gave to people. He just gave of himself. And so for me, you know, we grew up. I grew up in Kentucky, going to Walt, Disney World for vacation, like every year, like since I was five years old, and to this day, I'm 45 and I have an up Disney painting, a pair that I called in my kitchen. But I just loved the experience. I loved I loved the time being there with my family. And so I knew at a relatively young age I wanted to be in hospitality. And so I chose, I chose to go that route. I walked on the basketball team at Florida city. Florida Southern College on purpose. I went to Florida Southern College on purpose, 40 miles due west from Walt Disney World. So I interned there every single summer, and then ended up working in the industry for 20 years, Walt, Disney World, Disneyland, several and then a couple places here in Las Vegas, in between win and encore the Cosmopolitan, as you mentioned. And for me, it's like I was out there doing it. You know, I was a leader of people. I was led by some really great leaders, some really poor leaders, and a lot of people in between. I'm a passionate sports fan. I used to be a basket point guard on the basketball team, and to this day. I still like study and like all types of basketball, Las Vegas, Aces, WNBA. You know, we're tough, tough loss over the weekend here, but I'm still obsessed with basketball. But for me, it was this realization to get into this like speaking and writing and encouraging people. It just was born out of passion.

What do you what did you think you know, as somebody who's so passionate about sports and football, and again, I remember taking my kids on Disney cruises, and just the amazing hospitality from the pancakes with the, you know, with all the characters put on them for the kids, to going down to the islands and then taking the boat around. And it's just the hospitality was amazing and and as a family, going to do that, that's crazy. But I wonder if there you've you've got to have had some mentors, and I had a guy on here just recently that wrote a whole book about two basketball coaches. One of them was John Wooden, and the other one was the woman in the South. I'm trying to remember her name, but a famous basketball coach did have you taken any lessons on leadership or or personal growth from somebody like John Wooden and if they are, what would be the number one for you that you'd remember?

Yeah, for sure. My first book was ball games to boardrooms leadership, business and life lessons from our coaches we never knew we needed. So that was my first soiree into trying to become an author and a speaker. Is I figured I want to write about someone's passion mountain that I knew a lot about. And so when I grew up, my basketball hall of fame basketball coach and Kentucky high school hall Basketball Hall of Fame, Charles Baker, legend, and so he always say three things to us, play hard, have fun, and listen to your coaches. Play hard. Have fun. Listen to your coaches. What I did with that first book is I added one on the front of that and one on the the back of it. And the first one is, is, is just unleashing compassion, and it's just it was all about focusing on other people, focusing on other people. There's a grander plan. Just realize that you're playing a role on your team, and how you show up matters.

Well, you know you're you're a giving guy, and yet this book is called give hospitality and it and not that that's a wrong name, but it's really, give compassion, give understanding, give listening, give all of the things that you need to give to actually make the people feel comfortable, to to allow the people to go, Wow. What an experience. Because when you go to a resort, you go for the experience, right? And and people will talk about the experience, and you say, you open the story with summer Grace and her experience. And is it the koala resort? Is that the one in Hawaii, the fictitional

resort company, okay, okay, look, kawela resorts, summertime in Hawaiian.

Okay, that's what I thought. And I remember being at a Disney. Wasn't Disney, it was, yes, it was in Hawaii that I took the kids, Lonnie, that's it. So what inspired you to use kind of storytelling as the foundation for teaching the leadership and workplace culture. And then let me put an add on to that. You and I just prior to this, we're talking about the challenges that a lot of my listeners out there from LinkedIn, who either run resorts or in the middle of being in middle management, are just like frustrated with, how do I find good people that want to give and make the experience Wonderful? So I think this storytelling is a great way to approach it, but tell us a little bit about it, why you went this way with this book, right? And, and, and then address, if you would the challenge that you and I were talking about before we came on.

Sure, yeah, this was an opportunity to try to practice what I preach. So the first, the last book we did, was lead with hospitality and little bit of a how to based on 20 years working in the in the hospitality industry for good leaders, bad leaders, a lot in between, but one of the main focal points in that message was really this idea of emotional connections, and that all of us make decisions based on emotion as opposed to logic. Conventional wisdom tells us that was let's look at the stats. Or if we're leading people for selling to people, we'll just look at the stats. Just look at much money I can save you. Just Just, just look, look at these metrics right here on the chart. Surely that'll motivate you to act or to make a decision, to change your behavior, to buy, to buy, in whatever the case may be. Yeah, but the reality is that's not true. We make decisions based on emotion. And one of the central points I bring out, and lead with hospitality, is the idea of storytelling like we're all attracted to stories because they're so relatable we can see ourselves and some of the characters. And so I chose to do that, and I love reading leadership business fables, going all the way back to things like the Go Giver by Bob Berg and John David Mann, that's still on the, you know, top 10, top team. I bet

you read a lot of John Maxwell's books.

John Maxwell, John Gordon, who wrote the forward to lead with hospitality. He's the energy bus guy, right? 20 some other books. So I wanted to give it a shot. And so what I trying to do with this is make it a story such that maybe we could all see a little bit of ourselves in summer grace the main character, maybe we can see a little bit of ourselves and some of the other characters that you'll meet as you read the story, and just just an opportunity for all of us just take a deep breath in light of everything we've just lived through in the last five years, from COVID to the shutdowns to the political divide, socio economic, social justice, all of These things that we've all lived through. And this idea, and this, what I've put together here, started during the pandemic.

And, you know, it's such an exciting time, regardless of the adversity of regardless of the challenges. You know, technology is moving us in wonderful directions. I have nothing against it. But the same time when somebody spends their money, I just said, to use an example, my son, I have two grandchildren that live in San Rafael, my son came to Legoland, you know, and it's like, okay, so Legoland is this big resort. And he says, Well, why don't you join us there? You live in North San Diego County, and come in. And I asked my son, I said, How much did you spend for going to Legoland to get the hotel for the kids? And I think it was two or three days or whatever, and and then he had passes for us, which he didn't have to do, but he wanted to. It's like $2,600 I'm thinking to myself, well, from my personal opinion, having waited in those lines, having gotten crappy food, pardon me, Legoland, I didn't really other than my grandchildren, I didn't have a great experience, right? And so I'm wondering what it is that these leaders that you're talking about need to do to step it up.

Yeah, I just believe in the power of this, obviously the power of how we make people feel. I remember like when I first started my first leadership job, way back 2002 at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, they brought a guest speaker in, and he said, friends, let me tell you something you want to work in hospitality the next two years or the next 20 years. He's like, just remember these three things. He's like, the essence of hospitality is the ability to make people feel welcome, good, comfortable and important. And then I went and worked at all these places, and I'm just here to tell you the essence of inspirational leadership, transformational leadership is also the ability to make people on your team feel welcome, comfortable and important. The final point is this is is like what you experience at that resort, or, if anybody listening here, you're thinking about the good experiences you've had at resort XYZ or restaurant XYZ or bar lounge, airline, whatever, versus the bad ones. I'm convinced that people, when leaders, lead with hospitality, frontline teams, will deliver memorable hospitality. Yeah,

it is Taylor just not to interrupt you. But you know, I'm speaking from the consumer standpoint of hospitality, which everybody listening consumes somewhere. They pay for something, they expect something in return. They want to have a good experience, right? And so I saw something recently. I'm going to digress here, because I think it's really valid. You know, there's a chip Gaines and his wife, the gal, they have a little hotel down in Waco, Texas, and they hire disabled people. And there's this guy who's mentally kind of disabled a little bit, right? But he is the guy in the front of the hotel that greets everybody, and they did this, like little documentary about this kid. He could not make people feel any better, because you just felt great, because it's Down syndrome, right? And he loved everybody, and he doted on him, and he did whatever. And they said, hiring those people. Was a key to one of their successes, right? So not, I mean, this wasn't part of our questions, but the reality is, it reminds me of the people that get into my heart, that other people have tried to help. They have really made a huge difference. Do you believe that these resorts should be hiring more of those kind of people to actually give back to that community and have them give to their

to their guests. Of course, of course, like we should all hire based on cultural fit, for sure, does this individual fit with our culture. Do their values align with our values? And then if that's a yes, all right, cool. We'll move to the next thing. What role in the show should they play? So based on their abilities, their skills, their their the way they interact with people, regardless of what they look like, sound like, where they come from, that's the spirit of inclusivity. And thing we all have in common is that we all are human beings, like that individual you're thinking about right now, much different than you. Oh, yeah, but you connected with the humanness that that person,

and that's an important thing. You say and you write, give Aloha that you'll be a beacon of light. How do you define Aloha as a leadership principle, and why do you believe it holds the key to transforming these toxic cultures? Because, look, I've been into places where it just feels cold to go in, and I never go back again to me, that's toxic. And then I have other places that I just love, and I tell all my friends about, well, everybody in business should be wanting me to go tell everybody that I had just a wonderful experience at the XYZ resort, right? Yeah. So how do you how do you infuse as a trainer and a coach and a leader in this industry, give aloha and you'll be a beacon of light.

Yeah, I had never gone to Hawaii ever, until my wife and I got married, we did our honeymoon on Maui, and since then, I've just been, like, completely blown away and inspire like it touches. It touches your heart. It changes you as a human being. We've been back a few times since at the time we got married, I was working at Disney Vacation Club based at the Disneyland Resort, leading the sales team that their primary goal was to sell Alani, Disney. Alani, a Disney Resort and Spa timeshare or vacation ownership, right? So I learned a lot about Aloha, a lot about the Hawaiian culture. One of the things we wanted to do with that resort, with that whole experience back at Disney, was they said big H, little D, it was to celebrate Hawaiian culture. Be very respectful, very sensitive to all things Hawaiian story. And then, oh, by the way, it is a Disney place, so, like, you still can get Mickey waffles there, but it was, like, very toned down. But for me, Aloha, like, when you start diving into it, it really is more than just a greeting. It is a way of life. It's how we treat it's how we have the opportunity. Should we choose to treat other people? And I don't know about you, or everybody that's listening. You've ever been to Hawaii, any of the islands spent it, and here in Las Vegas, they called this place the ninth island. So that's another thing. It's for years working on this Las Vegas Strip. I worked at win and encore for the opening of encore, was the director of red card for wind and encore, that's their loyalty marketing program. And then for four years, I was at the cosmopolitan Las Vegas when we opened that property in December of 2010 I was there for four years. Loved it, loved the culture we were trying to build, and I worked with so many Hawaiian people. And so you start to learn that it is more, that aloha is more than just a greeting. In fact, there's the a, l, O, H, A, like, there's the Hawaiian word for each of those letters, and they just go along with what I just that was sort of like the light bulb moment for me as I was trying to figure out how to package a story that could bring this to life. And it really is. But you know, you speak compassion, I'm going to finish it. It's giving compassion, giving encouragement, giving kindness, giving hospitality and giving leadership. It's just a whole different way of life and a way to approach being a leader.

So well said, and pardon me for interrupting you, but I was thinking about as you were talking about Las Vegas. You know, I'm old enough to remember when Las Vegas was more of a Sin City, and they've now made it into a family place. Okay? That was their big thing was this transition from, hey, we're just a place to go gamble, to Oh, no, we want to include all the kids. And I think they've done a pretty good job of it, right? It's, it's really, when you look at the resorts and you look at what's going on there, it's been going on for years. And years, but when I first started going there, it was not a place just for kids at all. So, so you just use the word generosity, and one of the core messages is that generosity isn't just a personal value. You said it's a business strategy. Can you share of an example where giving hospitality improve the team performance or the customer outcomes?

For sure? Yeah, when I started doing the research, of like, all right, let me just dive into this. Is there anything here? And sure enough, like, it turns out, being generous, it makes us happier. Like, this is research based stuff. It's all in the book, cited appropriately, but generosity makes us happier, makes us healthier, it creates stronger, tighter social bonds between any group of people, and it also has this like ripple effect, like, according to the research, is like it's contagious, whether when we are receiving somebody else's generosity, or when we are giving of ourselves, it's a we it's like a you want to do it again and again and again. And so, to answer your question, I remember back at Disney Vacation Club when I was learning the Disney sort of sales approach. I love this, and it's really inspired a lot of my work ever since, is on purpose Disney Vacation Club, which, by the way, is a billion with a B billion dollar business unit for the Walt Disney Company in the parks and resorts division, where in the organizational chart, a Disney Vacation Club, at least when I worked there, would you find a a title, like a job title with the word salesperson in it. Instead, we called them Disney Vacation Club guides and our purpose, like our purpose, the reason we existed, this was the culture that we all bought into it, and I was in charge of making sure other people would buy into the culture. Is we, we were, we existed, to change people's lives by teaching, by teaching them a different way to vacation period. It just so happens that we were teaching them different ways to vacation with Disney, going to Disney places, and leveraging the Disney membership that we were selling them. So what I saw had, I had 20 real estate licensed time share sales people. Yeah, there were about four of them that approached their role in the show from a place of generosity, literally giving a great experience for 90 minutes the guests that were walking through Disneyland, and they happened to stop to talk to somebody, and they were interested in learning more, so they booked a tour, and they came over to our sales site, and these four or five people on that team that I'm telling you about, and I still keep in touch with many of them today, I watched them, and I was 35 years old at the time, so I was soaking up learning from them just as much as the other way around. And I was convinced from then on, like that there's something to this. When you show up as a guide in somebody else's story, not to be the hero in the story they already have. They already they don't need another hero. Everybody wants to be the hero in their own story. And nobody else wants you to be the hero in their story, but everybody will take a guide to help them become more of the hero. And those are the people that made the most money. They had a couple houses, right? And and they also were just happier people

well, they were no pressure, right? I think, I think here's the thing, look, when you go in this big corporate culture, whatever it is, whether it's Disney or it's any of the others, you're talking about, something that has to be from the heart it, and it's not mechanistic. There's no mechanism to it. When somebody is a really good salesperson, you said their sales wasn't in their name, I get that. But the reality in the end, is there's a transaction that has to occur for this to be viable at the corporate level. But they gave from their heart. They gave the story. They told the story well. They believed in the story. They believed in it themselves. They were ingratiated in the whole experience, right? And people feel that, and what I'm saying, It's a feeling. So those people were the top sales people, because they made the people there feel good, right? And that's something that in both books, you talk about the champion emotional connection with team members before inspiring action. Why do you believe emotional connection, like what we're just talking about is as a leadership non negotiable in today's workforce? Because, hey, if, if I had a room. Like those three people, four people, whatever it was that you just said, and I could duplicate them, like, boom, boom, boom, I'd have a $10 billion organization, right? But the reality is, you don't always get that. It's a very small percentage.

That's right, that's right, yeah, the answer this, this question is, is a little bit of the anecdotal stuff, like stories like I just shared, but also also rooted in research. So go with me on this. When I did the research for our prior book, lead with hospitality, I found research by Jonathan height, H, A, I D, T, he's a, yeah. I know my psychologist and and he wrote a book happiness hypothesis. And Chip and Dan Heath, the great authors of switch, how to change when change is hard. They use Jonathan heights research in their book switch, which sold several millions,

millions. Yeah. So I'm like,

if Chip and Dan Heath can use it, I want to use it, I want to use it too. But basically, what the foundational research is is the following. You know how we have the left side of the brain and the right side of the brain? The left side of the brain is responsible for logic and analysis and intellect, whereas the right side of the brain is responsible for emotions and feelings and creativity and imagination. So Jonathan kite gives us a metaphor of a human person sitting on top of a six ton elephant. The person sitting on top, he calls the rider. The rider's role in this show is to give direction, give the human being direction of where to go. The elephant, on the other hand, is playing the part of and really what he uses as a metaphor for the right brain, which so the elephant is the emotion and the feelings. And so the elephant's role in this show is to provide the energy and enthusiasm to move. The energy and enthusiasm to change behavior, the energy and enthusiasm to even spring into action at all. And so here's the takeaway for you and me and everybody listening that's either a leader or a salesperson or a marketer. If the elephant and the rider ever disagree on which direction to go or whether or not to move at all, who's going to win the argument the elephant every single time for a couple, one's got a six ton weight advantage on the rider. And the other reason is, think about what the elephant, what the right brain contributes to the equation, the energy and enthusiasm to move. The energy and enthusiasm to change direction, the energy and enthusiasm to even spring into action. So I love it, because it's some it's it can be summed up by another John Maxwell quote. You brought up Maxwell, and we use it in all of our all of our learning experiences, leadership on every level. And John Maxwell famously said, we can't move people into action unless we first move them with emotion. And I thought that was a great sort of tie in there. And so that's why I believe, not only from having been out there and trying it a bunch of different ways as a leader, but also experiencing it firsthand from leaders of my own, from coaches of my own, from consultants that I've worked with or for, is if they don't feel it, they're not going to do anything. If I don't feel it, I ain't going to do it.

Well, you know, you know, your story is awesome. That about Jonathan and the elephant, and moving the elephant with the motion. You know, when you see people who train animals, I'm not just talking about resorts, but have an emotional connection with the animal, whether it's the birds at San Diego zoo or it's whatever it is, you can tell the trainers who really love what they do, and they love connecting with the elephants, and they love connecting with the birds, and it is like, hey, we can be one with this. I just watched a story about a lady who rehabilitated hummingbirds, of all things, and you're thinking to yourself, Wow, this lady took on this thing, and they made a documentary about her. Was fascinating. Now, you you talk about, you know, summer Grace's story here, that's what's going throughout this whole book, folks, and it reminds us that hospitality starts from within the organization. Now we've kind of been talking about that. How can the leaders out there listening right now, whether they run a hotel or they run a restaurant or whatever it might be, balance servicing their team with meeting external customer expectations. Because you know you're you have training courses. That's what you do. That's what your company does. So anybody listening here today, I'm going to direct you to Taylor's website and. And it's lead with hospitality.com that's where you can go. But the reality is, is he's got all kinds of trainings. You can get involved with. Go there and learn about his books. You can pick up his books. But how do you get this balance between the people that work for me and my customers expectations?

I think the easiest way, the simplest way to answer that question, is as a leader, think about how you're treating those people that are on your team, and is that how you would like them to treat your customers, your guests and your clients? Because 1,000% there's no two ways about it, what they experience and how they feel is going to get passed through to the end user, the consumer and the guest or the customer that comes through your doors. So I just believe it, and I've seen it, and I've practiced it in real life. When leaders lead with hospitality, frontline teams like you're describing, deliver memorable hospitality. Why? Because of its cultural because it's it's the again, back to values like there's a Roy Disney quote, which I love. Apparently, he said once upon a time, it's easy to make decisions when you know what your values are, and that's us as leaders. So vision is where we're going. Mission is why we exist, but values, values are the how values are, how we do what we do. And so when leaders live and breathe and walk the talk, bringing the values to life is amazing. What happens? You got a bunch of team members out there that are watching and listening what we're doing, what we're not doing. They're even listening and watching how we say stuff, how we do stuff, and so as leaders, the final point is how you treat them. Nine times out of 10 is how they're going to be treating your guests.

You know, I went through this Disney training as you know, there's tons of it and and I remember you're you just talked about Roy, and I remember this story, and I think it relates to what we're talking about here. So in Pirates of the Caribbean, Roy told Walt that we didn't have the money to put the fireflies up. And the reality is, he wanted to make it as real as the bayou that he could right? It was like, I need these fireflies. It's like, and Roy was, he was the accountant side, right? He was the logical guy. No, well, we just, we don't have the money to do what you want to do with the Pirates of Caribbean. He goes, I don't care. We're going to do it anyway. Just do it. Let's get it done, right? And in the end, you can see how the experience of going down that ride and seeing that, I still remember this, you know, you fall into the water, and then you see the people eating at the restaurant. You see the fireflies, you know, and all that. And then the thing climbs back up. And the reality is the experience it really took in the smell he pushed in the smell of the bayou and the humidity and all the rest of stuff. Yet his brother was saying, No, we can't do all of that. And he goes, you have to do it. And you know, it just kind of shows you that the experience that people have, they'll talk about here it is all these years later, I'm telling you in my own voice the experience that I had, and that my kids have had, and so many millions of people have had, going down into that thing. So let's talk about that. You say experiences are nothing more than stories told through acts of service. What story do you hope people tell after working with or for a leader who gives hospitality,

yeah, I just hope that what first like you when you ask him about that leader, you ask him about that experience, I hope that they're going to smile and they're going to remember just what that felt like, and they're also going to remember all the things that They still do today that they learned from that leader way back then. We do this thing, and some of our learning experiences, where I'll and my whole team will do it too, is we'll ask a question like, What was the most impactful feedback you've ever received? And we use that terminology on purpose. We don't say the best feedback, we say the most impactful feedback, and it doesn't have to be positive. And so I always love when I get a few of these answers from the from the room, and I'll always ask the follow up question. I'll be like, thanks for sharing that story, and how long ago was that? Thanks for sharing that, and how long ago was that? And what I found out here doing this for about four years, pretty consistently all around the time. Consistently all around the country. Is more often than not, the people that are sharing that story about the most impactful feedback they had from a leader, and they were probably a leader who led with hospitality. It'll be like 15 years ago, 10 years ago, 12 years ago, seven years. Ago. And my point is that's the magic of showing up like this. That's the magic of leading with hospitality. Is it not only inspires people and helps people today, but it can help them on into their career. It leaves a lasting impact on their life and on their ability to continue to grow, personally and professionally.

It's so true and frequently it's that little story or that moment or that touch or that feel or whatever it is that we get, you know, and Brene Brown is a big one on this. And in both books you talk vulnerability is framed not as a weakness, but as a leadership asset. What was a moment in your own leadership journey where vulnerability changed everything for Taylor Scott,

that's such a great question. Yeah. I Yeah. Brene Brown made vulnerability famous here in the last 10 years. You know, yeah, switching it from being a weakness to could potentially be a superpower. Here's a story about that. So I was, this was in like, year two, I believe, working at Gaylord palms, resort and Convention Center in Orlando. And I was like, Does my first real full time leadership role? Was housekeeping manager for the opening. And I was in housekeeping for a couple years, and then the director of rooms came to me and met me on one of the housekeeping landings at Gaylord palms. I mean, I'm 23 years old, and the director of rooms, like the guy that reports to, like the hotel manager, he came to me, is like, we need to talk. I'm like, okay, cool, about what he's like about your career. I was like, All right, sweet. I got, like, a bag of trash in one hand, bag of dirty towels in the other. I'm like, Okay, let's talk anyway. He's like, we'd love for you to go work on the front drive in Bell services, leading the valets and the bell the bell staff on the inside, taking luggage to the rooms. He's like, they need some help, man, they need they need some of your like, energy. They need some of this magic. I'm like, Alright, let's do it. And I remember being while I was very excited, I was nervous. I was a nervous wreck, because we did, like, major conventions, like there'd be 1000s of people that would arrive all the same time, which means a lot of cars and a lot of bags going in and going out at the same so I was a nervous wreck. And we a lot of pressure on us, because we were often the first impression, you know, like the first opportunity for the resort to have this impact on guests. And I remember my, one of my leaders, his name was George Smith, very common name, and this dude was anything but common. He He had spent 20 plus years working across the street at Walt, Disney World, and then he was kind of on the back nine of his career, and he just, he had left Disney, and he wanted to just work again, so he went and was on the opening of Gaylord palms. But I remember it was a Saturday morning. It was a million degrees, and I'm rolling in. I'm the guy. It was my shift. I'm running the shift, the day shift on this very busy Saturday. Here came George Smith. I'm 23 years old. This dude's like, 55 he'd been doing this for a lot longer than me, especially coming from Disney. So guy like me after interning and working in the start of my career at Walt Disney World, and I knew I wanted to go back to Disney eventually. This guy was like, I watched everything he did, and I put him on a pedestal, and he came out, and he's like, Man, I am burnt out. And I was just like, Well, what do you mean? What's wrong? And he just was vulnerable. This is before vulnerability was like, Cool, 2003 and or 2004 you know, and he just was himself, and he was human, and he told a couple reasons why. And in that moment, I thought to myself, well, I thought I loved this guy before, but now I'm gonna do anything in my power to help him. Yeah, and just would pour myself into it, hook line. It like both feet. And I'm coming from that athletic background, you know, fast forward, like, two months later. It's a I'm on the front drive. It's the day shift. It's 1000 degrees. It's Orlando, it's humid, and George came out to check on things. And I had it dialed in. Man, I had, like, it was, we had a process, you know, where the guys were supposed to stand how we were to pull cars in, and I had learned it from watching them, and I was feeling pretty good about my understanding of the operation, and I had this thing dialed in. George came out, and he's like, T Scott, I like it when you're here. My brother, I like it when you're here. And I was just like, I'm good. Like that. I that was worth me more than any

bonus all you needed. Yeah, that's it. But it all starts

because he was human. He was vulnerable with me first,

words of kindness and words of encouragement and words of inspiration like that coming from your staff. It's like we don't get enough of that right? And you know, you're doing a. Good job. When somebody like that, who you were emulating, comes back to you and says, I like it when you're here, dude, you know it, does it? What was that? Three words? That's all it really took. But the point was, is here was a guy that wasn't vulnerable. Became vulnerable with you. You became vulnerable with him, and the two of you bonded, and that's the truth of it is, is the bonding that took place, man to man bonding. So look, if every leader listening could only walk away from you know, remembering one idea from this book, give hospitality. What do you hope it would be, and how should they act on it? Like, I always like to give people that listen to these podcasts, what are things I can take away, like, right away, what could if I, if I work in the industry, or I'm a leader in the industry, what are some of the things that Taylor Scott wants to inform me of and could help me with and again, for my listeners, we're going to look in the show notes below here, because we're going to have a link to the website, a link to the books. Taylor has great training programs, so take advantage of that and make a connection with him. So what do you want to leave people with today?

I would say love. Like there's a lot of words, there's a lot of stories, there's a lot of books, and it's just really comes down to love. It really does, and we don't talk about it enough, we don't get vulnerable enough, we don't get honest enough with ourselves and with each other. So if you don't remember anything else, just love people. And at the root of hospitality, at the root of leadership, at the root of any society, any community, any work worth doing, you're going to find love. And I just think we need more of that in the workplace. And I think now is a very, very critical time, not only in hospitality, but in all of our society, almost globally. Like, just think about what's going on. Can we all just like, take a deep breath and relax? And there's one statement, like, one of your one of your things, we kind of brushed on it, but we didn't get all the way into it, is empathy. And I believe if there's if there's one leadership skill, that no matter what level of leadership you may find yourself today, if there's one leadership skill, no matter how far along you are into your leadership journey to focus on and to get better at, would be empathy. I didn't really realize that empathy was a skill until about five years ago, when ago, when I did my career switch, getting into all of this. And it turns out it's a skill. And that's really news. That's really good news, because we can all practice it and get better at it over time. All we have to do is be intentional about it. So there's one statement if you're wondering, all right, well, that sounds good and all that. But how do I do that? Well, here's the deal ready. Here's the statement. If what happened to you had happened to me, I'd be just as frustrated as you are. If what happened to you had happened to me, I can't imagine how I'd be feeling right now, that one statement helps us internalize the whole walk a mile in their shoes thing, and it makes it very tangible and real. So just practice that, whether you're thinking it or you practice saying it to somebody else, and watch what happens to your relationship. To use another Disney analogy, and then we'll, I'll wrap it there is empathy. They Fast Pass. Empathy is an absolute Fast Pass to human connection and to building trust with the people that you work with, or that might be on your team.

Well, that's a great way, because what you just stated was, you know, I liken communication from a leader, right? It's like, did I hear what you said kind of thing, right? So let's repeat it back. And in essence, what you then added to that was now that I understand how they felt. You then can say, hey, if that had happened to me, I would have felt the same way. And then you have a way to be on their side. How's that? That's the best way I can say it exactly right, and and that then calms the situation down, right? I know so many of us out there can state times when we've had a meal, and it didn't quite go right. And we walked out of there and said, I'll never go back to the place again, because, you know, nobody really even asked me. And then when I did complain, they didn't do the right thing, right? Or you go to the other side of it and they go, Hey, your whole. Meal is comped. I want to bring you out a new steak, whatever it might be, what it doesn't matter what it is. You're like, wow. These people really get it. This is fantastic, right? And so the point is, is that you want them to feel as you're saying that you understand and that you as the waiter or the hospitality person, are going to make it right in some way. Right? That for sure. Yeah, for sure, yeah. And so I want to thank you for, like, sharing your stories here about summer grace. We didn't get into all of them. But the point is is, go pick up this book. Go get this one at two. We'll have a link to lead with hospitality, to be human, emotionally connect, and serve selflessly. And I think the key is selflessly. When I look at this, and I'm going to end this with this of all the people in the hospitality industry who've had the most impact on Taylor Scott, who were your leaders? What is the one person that stands out Taylor, and what did that person do and or say to you that actually shifted you for a lifetime.

Name is Arthur Keith, and there's another main character in this story, and the general manager that hires summer grace. His name is Arthur, and it's based on real life Arthur Keith. See, I had met him when I was doing my graduate work at Cornell. He is an all he's also a Cornell alum. And when I was in grad school, we had a leadership development weekend, and they invite fancy alumni to come back, people that have gone out and made it, and they've done really well, they come back, and they're a coach for the weekend. And I loved him. I He was my coach for my group. And you fast forward a couple years after I got out of school, I found myself in a really tough spot. It was in the 2000 2009 2010 you know, financial crash, and I was having a hard time getting a job, and I wrote him an email. Cold Turkey, I just wrote him an email and said, I don't know if you remember me, but I was in your group at school, at the leadership development weekend, and I see that you're going to the you're at the cosmopolitan Las Vegas. Congratulations, you're going to be on the opening team there, like I'm back home in Kentucky with my parents, and during transition right now, I see you have this job open. I did the same job over at the wind, and I would love to apply for this job and join the team. And I had no idea if it was going to work, if he was going to remember me, if he would even care, and he stopped everything he was doing, and he sent me an email back, like we're talking like, five minutes later, five minutes Yeah, and he sent my information. He didn't get me the job, but he put my stuff, he forwarded my information to the hiring leaders, and then seven or eight interviews later, I ended up getting the job, and to this day, I do not know where I would be. I do not know how I would have pulled out of that spiral if Arthur Keith wasn't generous, if he didn't give his time, give his talent, his ability to relationship, his ability to do what he did there, and to give his heart for just, just a just a guy. I was a random guy that was 15 years, you know, 18 years, 20 years younger than he was, and he took the time to help. And I just wanted to thank him for doing that all those years ago. And so I wrote a story in which he's one of the main characters that I believe we all can take a few pages out of his brand of leadership, and he's today, he's the general manager of the Statler Hotel at Cornell University. And for the last four years, I've gifted, I gave him and the Statler Hotel all of my lead with hospitality content. And I go up there every three or four months, and I give back to the students. I give back to the school and I spend time with the leaders that work at the Statler Hotel as sort of like another way to just thank Arthur for taking that time to do that for me.

Well, you know, Arthur saw the light in you, right? And I, every one of my listeners, sees it. We can see your energy level, you know? We can see your level of compassion, your level of understanding. You call that tree by the side of you, your your hospitality tree with all the lights on it. I think the key is, is to bring light where there could be darkness. And the reality is, we live in a world, and we didn't get into the spiritual side of this. But I also see somebody who's extremely connected spiritually and is willing to do that. And I think when you find individuals like that, like Arthur did in you, no matter if you wrote him an email or you just call him on the phone, 99% of the time, they're going to respond pretty quickly, right? It's like, I remember that guy because he helped me feel better, or he did something, or he made other people. Feel better, and I think you'd be good there. So Taylor, Scott, thank you so much. This book is out now. You guys can go to Amazon. It says on sale July of 2025. But is it ready for pre sale at Amazon right now? Okay, yeah.

Pre orders are live Amazon, Barnes and Noble books, a million, wherever books are sold,

so you can pre order it. I'm going to recommend all my listeners go pre order that. And if you're really anxious, get this one first order them both as a bundle. There you go. Hey, Taylor, pleasure having you on the show again. Thanks for your generosity to giving to compassionate communications, which is our nonprofit as well. I appreciate you and all that you're doing. Thank

you very much, sir. I appreciate you. Bye.