Taylor Scott is a hospitality lifer turned leadership coach who cut his teeth at Walt Disney World, led sales at Disney Vacation Club, and earned his MBA from Cornell's Hotel School. He's the author of Lead with Hospitality and the leadership fable Give Hospitality, translating world-class service principles into practical playbooks for teams. Susan and Taylor talk about connection, culture, and coaching.

What You'll Learn About:

• Why "don't reply to everything" is terrible leadership advice.

• How sales and leadership mirror each other: build trust fast, influence behavior faster.

• The Connect–Serve–Engage–Inspire framework you can run on a busy lobby shift.

• LEAD as a service checklist: Listen, Educate, Act, Deliver.

• The mindset shift from SOP security blanket to entrepreneurial trial-and-error.

• Grad school's real ROI: "building shelves" in your brain + a global network.

• How to lead high achievers with the 3 C's: Choice, Competence, Community.

• "Guest first, team always" and "Purpose over policy" as decision filters.

• Turning fear-based flailing (hello, mushroom panic) into guest-centered choices.

• Why the next leadership frontier is re-teaching human connection in an AI world.

Our Top Three Takeaways

1. Leadership and Sales Share the Same Core: Connection and Influence

Taylor makes the case that sales is leadership, and leadership is sales. In both roles, success depends on making people trust and like you quickly, then inspiring them to take action. His "Lead with Hospitality" framework — Connect, Serve, Engage, Inspire — provides a clear path for achieving this in daily operations: connect with people on a human level, serve them first, engage with generosity and purpose, and inspire them through storytelling and authenticity.

2. The Best Leaders Create Environments for Motivation

Drawing from the self-determination theory, Taylor explains that people become self-motivated when they experience choice, competence, and community — his "three C's." High achievers, in particular, thrive when leaders give them autonomy, recognize their expertise, and foster a sense of belonging. Leadership isn't about control; it's about designing the conditions where people can thrive.

3. Purpose Over Policy: Leading with Humanity

From his experiences at Disney and Cosmopolitan, Taylor emphasizes two enduring leadership mantras: "Guest first, team always" and "Purpose over policy." Great leaders prioritize people and purpose over rigid rules, empowering teams to make guest-centered decisions. As hospitality evolves with AI and generational change, Taylor predicts the next frontier of leadership will be relearning how to connect on a human level — teaching empathy, conversation, and connection in an increasingly digital world.

Taylor Scott on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tscott1502/

Lead with Hospitality https://leadwithhospitality.com/

Other Episodes You May Like:

179: Bridal Suite Sweethearts with James Ferguson https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/179

118: Grief-Stricken Audience with Christine Trippi https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/118

129: Boo-Boo Sugar with Jason Brooks https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/129