Building a Legacy on Purpose and Passion

Jon Clifton:
[0:00] It is arguably the most controversial thing that we have ever asked. Why was it not controversial with you? From a St. Louis basement in 1957 to a presence on nearly every road in America, Enterprise Mobility has always moved on more than just fuel. Its engine is a quiet conviction that serving others isn't just a task to check off, but a purpose to live out. At the center is CEO Chrissy Taylor, leading 90,000 colleagues through a high-stakes transformation. Her compass isn't trends or noise, it's values. And in an industry defined by speed, she's betting on something more enduring, culture that scales and service that lasts.

Chrissy, thank you for having us here in St. Louis. It's awesome to be here with you today.

Chrissy Taylor:
[0:49] Great. Thank you for coming to see us. We appreciate it. And we appreciate the partnership we've had for quite some time now.

Jon Clifton:
[0:54] You know, I was looking at your LinkedIn profile and in your bio, there is just one sentence that opens that stands alone. And it says, I grew up in the car rental business. That one line says a lot. What was the intent there? And can you say more about what it is that you were trying to convey?

Chrissy Taylor:
[1:14] Yeah, I think the first thing is that I grew up in the car rental business because we have an amazing family business that my grandfather founded in a lower level of a Cadillac dealership in 1957. And it was actually a leasing business. So long-term leasing, three years. And so he grew that business over time in the Home City Network. And then my father took over as president general manager of the St. Louis Group and then grew that business. And then we had another CEO. And then I became CEO in 2020. And the way that I learned the business was through the family. It was at family dinners. It was coming to the office on a Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon with my dad. And it's not about what industry we are in. It's about the people that we work with and our partnerships. And when my dad would talk about the business and what he was doing during the day, during our family dinners, he would always talk about our people and how great they are. And then who are the partners that he just saw? And he always said that it's better to be visible and out in the field or out and about with everybody learning what was going on, having the pulse of the organization. And so he would sit at family dinner and talk about, I just went to Atlanta. I just met the most amazing people and they're growing. Oh, we just went to Kansas City. And this is what's happening in Kansas City. And so we really understood the philosophy and the fundamentals of the business through Jack and Andy at the dinner table about customers and employees first, and everything else will follow. And so it's been really exciting. And now we do way more than car rental.

Jon Clifton:
[2:53] Now, did you, in listening to all those discussions, does that mean that you always wanted to be in the business?

Chrissy Taylor:
[2:59] I did not know I always wanted to be in the business. Just like everybody else, I was trying to go to school. I wanted to go to college. I was a Division I field hockey player. I was more interested in playing field hockey than maybe academics. I think I get that from my grandfather. But I did not know. And so I, like most people, during college and during the summer, I needed a job. I wanted some money for college and to do the things that I wanted to do. And my dad said, well, we just started an internship program. Why don't you come back to St. Louis and intern for the summer? And so I interned and that's the first time I operationally was involved in the business. And I'm like, this place is great. I really like it. People are competitive. They're fun. They're friendly. You know, you're picking up customers, you're washing cars, you're really learning how to run a business by doing it. And so when I graduated, I then in 2000 became a full-time management trainee. And as I said, never look back.

Jon Clifton:
[3:53] You became CEO in 2020. And at that time, or a little thereafter, you and I got to know each other. Can you talk more about how our organizations got familiar with each other?

Chrissy Taylor:
[4:05] Yes. So actually, in 2019, I'll back you up a year. In 2019, we were trying to figure out a way to reintroduce and modernize our employee engagement surveys. We had been doing them in the past, but like many companies, there were 60 questions and they took three hours to do. And we're like, this cannot be the modern way to get feedback from our teams and understand what our team wants and how we can engage them better. And so that is when we met you and Kelly Bacon, who is absolutely amazing and has the best name known to people.

And so we met her at the end of 2019. We then went into 2020 and we had the engagement survey basically locked and loaded for the first time. And then the pandemic happened. And we said, no, let's take a pause. We're in a little bit of crisis management mode. But Kelly and the team and Jeremy looked at us and said, you are going to need to do this survey. You should really understand what's happening out there. We know you have the pulse on what's going on, but this could actually help you lead and manage better and give your employees the things that they need during a very, very uncertain time. And so your team actually pushed us to do the survey, which we are very thankful for. And so we launched the survey, it came back, and we definitely saw some really, really positive things. But we also could see the concern and some things that we probably need to do better, especially during a time of crisis and uncertainty. And so we're just very appreciative to you and your team for keeping pushing us forward. And so now it's six years later that we've had this engagement and all of the strengths and the engagement surveys, we continue to do that.

Um, and just to brag on ourselves for one minute, we did have manager of the year, Nick Reynolds. And so we were very, very excited about that and also have won your exceptional workplace award for the last three years. So we're super, super excited about that. And I am bragging on ourselves, but it's really about our team. So we've really enjoyed the engagement and all of our teams enjoy understanding more about them, their strengths, and where they maybe don't operate as well and need to lean into.

Jon Clifton:
[6:16] You know, I actually talked to groups all over the world specifically about what you did, because there was a massive increase in your engagement scores from that first survey. And to do that with such a high increase over such a large population is very difficult to do. What did you do?

Chrissy Taylor:
[6:36] Yeah, so we have 90,000 employees, and we operate in almost 100 countries, but we were really focused on our corporate countries. And so the great thing about the surveys is that you get real-time feedback. I mean, you send out the survey and it comes back in a couple days. And then it gives you, hey, here are the three or four things that you could be doing. It's not, they're just recommendations so that you, we can put our own company flair, our own leadership personality into those to then drive the message. Because one thing that I believe is a competitive advantage for our company is that we are hyper local. We're hyper local and we have local leadership to understand the pulse of the company, what's going on in Wichita, what's going on in San Francisco. And because we can break that down, we can drive it home really hard and then we can follow up and be accountable to it. And so those messages, they need to be simple. They should be clear. We should be accountable and consistent on that follow-up. So that's really important. And that's how we've been able to move the needle is great leadership, local leadership, and then simple plans. And don't change your plans. Just keep going. Keep going. Be consistent.

Jon Clifton:
[7:49] You know, we ask some questions that I think people think are a bit weird at times. In fact, there's one I think that is seriously of the hundreds of thousands of questions that we post the entire world.

Chrissy Taylor:
[8:00] My best friend. That's it. Great. We think it's weird too, but we understand it.

Jon Clifton:
[8:05] But, you know, it's amazing to me because it is arguably the most controversial thing that we have ever asked. Why was it not controversial with you?

Chrissy Taylor:
[8:13] So it actually was controversial. I think people thought, wait a minute, what's going on? And I know that it was controversial because Jeremy, who we love on your team, he rents from us in Cleveland and he also rents all over the place. And every time he comes and sees me, he's like, I have a great story. Here's your manager that did a really nice job. But we have greeters and people who work our booths as you leave the property just to make sure that, hey, is everything okay? Is the car okay? Let's just check to make sure, you know, you're Jeremy. And one of our people working was like, oh, wait, you work for Gallup. Why do you ask that question if you have a best friend at work? I mean, that's who was asking him. And so everyone's thinking about it. But we know that when you have a best friend, it's not about having a best friend at work. It's about do you trust your team? When you have a problem or a situation or you need to talk to somebody, do you have someone to go to? And that's how I view that question, because this is the ultimate team sport, our business.

Jon Clifton:
[9:15] This concept of the emotional economy, if you will, is almost foreign to some executives, or they don't want it to be part of work at all. They almost hope or aspire that people will be almost like automatons. They show up, get paid, and then do work, and that's it. But you intuitively said, no, the emotional economy is part of work. Why did you just sort of instinctively say, this is something that we need to adopt and that we care about?

Chrissy Taylor:
[9:45] I might use another word for that. I think it's passion. Passion is laced with emotion. Passion is you want to come to work. Passion is I want to go spend time with my family and go on vacation because I love them and I want them to be better. Passion is solving problems for our customers and bringing new ideas to the table. Passion is teamwork and working together and recognizing everyone for their success. And so we should lean into our passion. We should lean into, is it emotional intelligence? Because that makes us better. That creates empathy. That creates understanding. Because what we do is not, it's not easy. And as I just said, you know, people are at work, long hours, all the time. This is what we're doing five, six, seven days a week. And so we need to be passionate about what we do.

Jon Clifton:
[10:37] Your top five suggests that you are completely grounded in purpose, but that you also might thrive in chaos. Would you agree with that?

Chrissy Taylor:
[10:46] Yeah, I am definitely an executor through and through if we're using those strength words. So I definitely like to execute. But my third strength is Belief. And that is about conviction in my purpose and owning and operating a family business. I totally believe that it is the most amazing place to be. I am passionate about it and I can see that there's more in the future for all of us and our 90,000 people. When I became CEO in 2020, it was January. You know, COVID really hit the U.S. Easter was our low point in our business. And so I just ...

Jon Clifton:
[11:26] Why Easter?

Chrissy Taylor:
[11:27] It was the point that we had the lowest amount of vehicles on rent at any point in time during the pandemic. We also have a fleet management business that my grandfather originally started. And that was, people were not leasing cars at that time. And so when you just took a whole look at our picture of our portfolio, Easter was really when we're like, wow, are we still going to go down or are we going to start to put plans in place to get ourselves back to flat and start growing and understand what the consumer and our employees were going through at that time? But yes, getting full circle back to the question about Belief, purpose, and crisis, I look like a crisis management CEO, right? Because I became CEO in January of 2020, and there's been a pandemic. Thereafter, there was a semiconductor shortage, which then vehicle availability was not there. And so we were doing unusual things. We were holding our cars longer. They were becoming older. And we know that when you have an older car, that's not great for customer service. And so we were operating in a place that we had never operated in. And so we had to be flexible. We had to be nimble. We had to make choices that we'd never made before. And so my belief that we could get through this, we would be better when we got through it, and that we could do it as a team. I truly believe that we can weather any storm that comes our way because if you focus on your customers and your employees, everything will be okay.

Jon Clifton:
[12:58] You also have an Includer in your top five.

Chrissy Taylor:
[13:00] I am an Includer, yes. I had to be aware that I could bring too many people to the party and my Woo takes over.

Jon Clifton:
[13:06] As a fellow Includer in my top 10 you know, one of the things that I'm always curious about is when we have Includer we you know the most horrifying thought for us is we want to make sure no one feels left out, but how do you do that at scale with 90 000 people?

Chrissy Taylor:
[13:25] I think I mean I'm obviously I'm watching and I can see all the 90,000 people. I'm highly visible or try to be and go visit the field but when we're making big, IT decisions, marketing decisions, decisions for the company that are going to have long impact, I do like to include the team. I like to get their input. I need to make sure that we have alignment. That takes more time. And I have told my team that, you know, this is a marathon, not a sprint. And so the Includer in me just wants to make sure I'm circling the wagons. But the Activator in me is I need a plan and I still need to move forward. So there's a balance there. I normally don't feel paralyzed by too many opinions because I want to get to the next step. And so I think those two things are a nice balance to each other. It does take more time, though, to be an Includer in a big company with 90,000 people in 100 countries. And I'm okay with that. I'm totally aware. I'm totally aware because you're aware and the tests tell me I'm aware.

Jon Clifton:
[14:33] Does that mean that when you say that it takes more time, that there's more channels of communication, you mentioned surveys is one of the ways that you do this sort of scaled listening. What else?

Chrissy Taylor:
[14:44] I actually have to trust and verify with my team. My team that I work with every single day, most of them have started as management trainees just like me. So 95% of our management team, they have moved up the ranks. They've run a branch. They've been in different business lines. They've worked in our international businesses. And so they have the experience and the institutional knowledge of our company. And so I need to trust and verify that they are doing the same things. And so knowing that we want to hear everyone's opinion, we want to make sure that we are aligned, they are doing the same things with their teams and then bringing that feedback back. Because as the company continues to grow, it is harder to touch every single person. And so we need to be really intentional and thoughtful with the communication. We also, the other thing that we do and I love to do, and we're actually sitting in the room that we do it in, is town halls. That is an outcome of COVID because we needed to talk to everybody quickly and reassure everybody that we were going to be okay. And so we started having town halls where now we have 10,000 to 15,000 people watching our town halls once a quarter on a Wednesday at 10 o'clock Central Time. And then you can watch that broadcast later on, or our groups and our general managers who are in the field, they can use those during their trainings or their team meetings. And so that communication is a positive that came out of COVID and a way to align everybody on what is the company working on? What are our main priorities right now? And how do we look moving into the future?

Jon Clifton:
[16:27] You know, one of the strengths we haven't talked about is one that I think you've mentioned before is probably the one you identify the most with, which is Arranger. How does a CEO use Arranger?

Chrissy Taylor:
[16:38] So Arranger comes out in me at home and as a CEO. I always joke because when I first learned about my strengths, I was like, oh yeah, I packed the car like that. Oh yeah, I do the dishwasher like that. Yep, I'm an Arranger and that totally drives my husband crazy. Not that you asked me about my home life, but that's how I use it at home. For work, it is... Because I've said before, our business is the ultimate team sport. And so we need to make sure that we have the right leaders in place with the right experience. And so I spend a lot of my time thinking about the team, team dynamics, succession planning, because our team and the team that reports to me, most of them have 30 to 35 years of experience. Not everybody, but a lot of them. And so they've come up in our management training program. And so, as I said, they have the institutional knowledge. But when they retire, for all the right reasons, because they've spent all of their time with us, we're like, yes, go spend time with your family. But when they retire, I need to find the right leader for that business and their big jobs. But when we promote somebody in our organization, there are about 30 other promotions and moves that happen within our organization. And so we need to be very thoughtful and intentional about one move creates all these other opportunities. And do we have people ready for those opportunities? And I believe that whether you work in fleet management or car sale division or rental, great leadership is great leadership. And when you demonstrate that in one discipline, that absolutely translates into another discipline or division. And so we want to be really thoughtful that we're giving everyone the opportunity to be successful and recognized and promoted for their great work. So that is what I spend a lot of my time working on. And that is Arranger in my mind through and through.

Jon Clifton:
[18:40] You'd also talked about, so Analytical, Ideation are places you don't want to hang out too long. And that might even be kind of a natural tension that is necessary, right? Where it's like there are individuals that are saying, we need to be thinking, we need to be thinking. But others say, yeah, but it's time we call a shot. How do you make sure that you manage that tension so that others aren't feeling like, oh, she's making us move too quickly. How do we know that we can necessarily say something? We need to think about this a little bit more. How do you balance that?

Chrissy Taylor:
[19:11] Well, one, a lot of people are executors. So they are definitely trying to move to the next stage. But we also want to be thoughtful and strategic about what we're doing. And I think my Includer actually bringing teams together, having more input, checking in with everybody a lot, helps me balance out that, hey, Chrissy, you didn't look at every single number that was going on here. You looked at it and got a feel for it. But what they don't know is I circled back to my CFO, maybe out of the meeting and said, hey, I'm not thinking like this, but it's like, hey, I'm not that analytical. I looked at it. I think everybody's on board, but let me just triple check this with you, that this is what we want to do. This is the right thing to do. And everybody's aligned in how we're moving forward. And so I think that Includer helps me just make sure, cross all the T's, dot the I's and move forward, even if I'm not looking. I don't want to say I'm not looking at every number. Is that a bad thing? People are going to be like, you're not looking at the numbers.

Jon Clifton:
[20:15] We'll cut it later.

Chrissy Taylor:
[20:15] No, no, you can. No, don't cut that. That's the best part. But yeah, I think my Includer helps me not just circle around with everybody in the meeting, but after the meeting. There's something that we call the hot lap. And so we all, you know, we're all sitting on our floors. We have one, two, three, and four. I sit on the fourth floor. And so when I'm unsure or my spidey senses go up that I'm thinking not everybody is on the same page, you do a hot lap. And so I will do a hot lap around the fourth floor or wherever the team is sitting that day, just check in. It could be at the end of the day. It could be at the beginning of the day. Just to say, hey, how was that meeting? Anything else that we need to circle back on? Are you okay? But also when you're running a big company, you're not always going to have – not everyone is going to agree. But if you have alignment, everybody is certainly willing to move forward. So, agreement and moving forward with alignment, I think, are two different things. Because you and I might not agree on how this interview is going, but we know it's going. And so, let's find that place that we're talking about things that we enjoy, that are impactful, and that are helpful to both of us.

Jon Clifton:
[21:30] When it comes to your teammates, what are some of the strengths that you lean into on various things that you're working on, whether it be something from, hey, we've got, I don't know, some sort of customer issue. We've got an issue at this one particular shop. How do you lean into the strengths of your team?

Chrissy Taylor:
[21:47] So one, it's what is the issue and how quickly does it need to be resolved? So I'm an Arranger. So I'm already thinking about, okay, if it's a customer issue, what's the problem? Who needs to solve that? And how do I get to that resolution the fastest? So sometimes it's just about I need to do this and I'll just go to whoever directly. But when we're talking about products and services and new offerings to our customers, usually I will bring in four or five of my teammates that we can just have a brainstorm. I do like to throw lunch on people's calendars and just say, hey, we're going to our conference room is 4101. And they're like, oh, 4101 is on deck. And I'm like, I'm buying lunch. And everyone's like, oh, what are we talking about? I'm like, well, I just have some things I need to get off my chest and brainstorm, which is interesting because Ideation is actually my second to last on my strengths. Yet I like to have lunch with my team and just talk about nothingness. But that nothingness can be really, really important. And so whether it's a hot topic, a hot issue, or just, hey, I want to have lunch with you guys because I haven't seen you in a while. There's some things we want to talk about or I'm missing the pulse of what you guys are up to, let's have lunch.

Jon Clifton:
[23:05] When you think of your top five, which of them brings you the most joy?

Chrissy Taylor:
[23:08] My Belief a hundred percent. We run a privately held, multi-generational family business. If I wasn't, if I didn't have purpose and Belief, we, I wouldn't be here. I just, why am I doing this? Because Jack, my grandfather, created this amazing business because he was an entrepreneur. He was a risk taker. He was a relationship guy. I don't think he was super strategic if he was going to do his strengths. However, my dad, Andy, became president and CEO, and now he's the executive chairman. He was the true strategist of the business. He could see that we just aren't renting cars. We're developing people. We're creating great teammates. We're giving people opportunity. We're recognizing this amazing culture and company, and we can do more than just renting cars. We are bringing solutions to a variety of customers, and that is really fun. And so he was the true strategist. And the passion that both of them had for the business and the belief that we can do more and be more with great teams ... I truly believe that. And so my job now is to take that to the next level. And since becoming CEO January 2020, I have leaned into that Belief because it has been one heck of a roller coaster ride. And yes, I may be deemed sort of crisis management out of all the things we've been doing, but I am looking into the future and truly believe that we are going to be successful and continue to grow the business for another 68 years.

Jon Clifton:
[24:49] You know, when it comes to leadership, one of the things that's incredibly important is being an effective communicator and being able to inspire others. You do both in an amazing way. What strengths do you draw on to do those? Because you don't have Communication in your top five, but yet you are an amazing communicator. What is it that you draw on to do that?

Chrissy Taylor:
[25:09] I would like to say it's my Woo and Positivity, but I truly believe It's my Belief. And simple messages. Simple. I don't want to overcomplicate what we do. We have complicated lives. Yes, what we do can be very hard. But those simple messages keep us pointed in the right direction. And I go back to my grandfather's founding philosophy, which is customers and employees first, and everything else will follow. And so when we think about a new product, a new service, we think about how is that going to impact the customer? Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? What do we need to think about? How is the employee, how is that going to affect our teammates? Does it make their job harder? Does it make it easier? Did we just marry those two things up, the employee and the customer? Because if they're not married up, it's not going to work. And then we talk about, okay, if we do those things, how are we going to activate that? And how are we going to do that? And how is that going to impact the community where all of our 10,000 locations are. And if you keep it simple, you tend to stay on track. And so simple messages, simple messages.

Jon Clifton:
[26:23] You know, there are strengths that we have that often annoy the ones around us that drive them nuts. What of your top five would you say is the one that frustrates others?

Chrissy Taylor:
[26:34] Let me look at that list real quick. It's interesting. I thought you might ask that question because I was like, yeah, you know, these are all great things and they're supposed to be strengths. But all of your strengths also have a flip side. And having a family business can be quite emotional. We're all passionate about it, but the family has to work together to make sure that they're removing obstacles for the business and they're not creating obstacles for the business. I have a twin sister. I mean, we are totally different. My Activator kills her because I want to get a plan and I want to do it with energy and I want to make sure we're getting to the next stage. She processes things. She just takes a little bit longer. She's very thoughtful and process-oriented. And so I have to be very aware that that strength and my energy about getting things done is not the pace that she wants to move and can be very intimidating for some people. And so I just have to be very, very aware of that, both for my team and my family, which creates a lot of complexity, doesn't it? And you have a family business as well. And so there are two dynamics and two stakeholders as a CEO that we have to manage and can be quite passionate about.

Jon Clifton:
[27:54] You talk a lot about innovation. You talk a lot about it when you're giving speeches. It's on your LinkedIn. Can you talk about first, what strength drives that? And the second one is, is what's next? What are the things that you're innovating right now? Not just for the company, but for the industry.

Chrissy Taylor:
[28:12] So about a year and a half ago, we changed the name of the company to Enterprise Mobility. And a name change in itself isn't really innovative, but the messaging and the alignment and the statement that that says to our employees and to the world around us is very important and is innovative. And so as we think about the future and how much more we can be, that's definitely Futuristic for me, which is the one strategic strength I have in my top 10. It's very Futuristic. I'm ambitious and I'm curious about the future. And there's so much potential. And that's what Futuristic means to me. And then my Belief kicks in, which is, who are we to the core of our DNA? Because that's our competitive advantage. We know exactly who we are, how do we operate, what makes us special. And so our customers, our employees, and the ability to grow our business with that operational excellence, that is our competitive advantage. And so how do we make sure that we stay true to who we are, to the core of our DNA, when as we move into the future as Enterprise Mobility that we can do that. We might be offering different products and services and we might be doing different things, but who we are never changes. And so I would say my Belief and my Futuristic strengths come through.

Jon Clifton:
[29:34] And so what does that look like when you're looking into the future about what products and services that you offer? What is it going to be?

Chrissy Taylor:
[29:42] I don't know. It can be anything. I think the mobility landscape is definitely changing. It is gigantic. It could be from the e-bikes that we were talking about earlier being in New York and driving. It could be an autonomous vehicle. It could be AI, connected cars. It could be anything. And so again, we take the, what are our customers saying to us? And so we want to make sure that we continue to listen to our customers so that we're creating products and services that they want, they will use, and it makes their lives better. And so we want to take all of those things I just mentioned and incorporate them into our business, but one step at a time to make sure that we build a value proposition around those innovative ideas and products and services so that we deliver on our customer expectations and our employee expectations.

And so, yes, of course we're working on EVs and autonomous and AI, but we need to make sure what are the outcomes that we're looking for. Going back to the Enterprise Mobility conversation, our customers really led that in listening to them because we have nine distinct business lines in our organization and that fall underneath Enterprise Mobility. We saw our customers leasing vehicles from us. Then we saw them renting trucks from us in a different division. And then when they fly for corporate business for their business trips, they were renting from us. And so our customers are actually demonstrating to us what we need to do. And they kept saying, well, why are you three different business units? And so we said, well, we're not. We're one company. And so we needed to take a step back to reintroduce ourselves and better explain who we are and what we do. And that was Enterprise Mobility in that rollout a year and a half ago. So, so far, so good. It's going to take time and synergy and building relationships and knowledge for our customer and our employees. But we're really excited about it. And yeah, it's going well so far.

Jon Clifton:
[31:52] How about AI? How does AI play into the company? I mean, is it just so much as, you know, getting co-pilot or open AI for all the associates or is it something far more integrated?

Chrissy Taylor:
[32:03] I think one step at a time. Like many companies. We are working through how do we best use it to make our employees more efficient so that we can develop them so they can have long careers with us. Because our employee base is a competitive advantage for us. And so when we look at AI, we want to make sure that it's going to enhance our employees' experience as well as our customer experience. So it's baby steps. When we think about AI, yes, there's co-pilot. There are all those things. And so we say, okay, do we want to do that? How do we do it? Is it boxed off? What's the outcome that we need out of that tool? I look at AI and I say, it's a tool that's going to make us better. And so we get our IT team, which this is a side note. Our IT team is a bunch of Arrangers. It's really interesting because we've had some IT moves and we had a retirement. And IT is like a puzzle. You start working on a project or initiative that could take two years. But then you also have projects that only take six months.

So not only are you managing products, you're also managing the skill set of people and team dynamics. And so when that two-year project ends, what are they going to work on? And they have a certain skill set. But when that six-month project ends, ooh, six months, what are they going to work on? And so they are arranging our products, our services, our build with skill sets. And I actually told Shane, our CIO, that yesterday because a note came out and they were rearranging the chessboard of who was going to work on what and why. And I emailed him back and I said, Shane, you have a bunch of Arrangers. That's my top number one strength. Maybe I should be CIO.

Jon Clifton:
[33:59] That's amazing.

Chrissy Taylor:
[34:00] Yeah, it is super, super interesting and I love it. And you actually get more accomplished when you're organized and you understand your team. You're intentional. When you are intentional, you get more accomplished, and I believe we're more successful.

Jon Clifton:
[34:13] You know, you have Responsibility in your top five too. And those with Responsibility feel like they will put the weight of the world on their shoulders. And you have the weight of a 90,000-person organization. How do you balance that and not feel like you're taking on the weight of all of it all at once all the time?

Chrissy Taylor:
[34:32] Yeah, it's interesting because it can be quite stressful, and usually it's self-inflicted stress. I actually don't think the team is doing that. I don't think the company is doing that. I don't even think my family is putting stress on me. It definitely is that Responsibility and self-inflicted. But I feel so much ownership and purpose towards our people that my Positivity and my, I would say my competitive drive, but it's really low, it just makes me want to do it. I just, I love what I do every single day. It can be stressful, but it is the ultimate team sport. We have great leaders. We have plans in place, and we can move this business forward. And so that Responsibility helps me. I think I'm a high performer. Helps me be a high performer. I lean into it.

Jon Clifton:
[35:26] You know, you've talked a lot about legacy, and two of the people you quote most frequently are your dad and your grandfather. If there was one piece of advice from either one of them and somebody said, or what's the best learning that you had from either one of their legacies, what would it be?

Chrissy Taylor:
[35:43] My dad told me, win the war, not every battle. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We want to be around for another 68, 100 years. And so make sure you think about the long game. That is helpful because that's strategic. Don't make short-term, don't make a short-term decision that's not right for the long-term. So I always remember that. And also when we're in a meeting and we're trying to get alignment and understanding, I think he saw that I was trying to win every single battle. I wanted my opinion to matter. I wanted it to be my way. And he said, don't do that. Don't do that. Like do it for the long haul. So now I'm settled down and I'm like, yeah, I'm way more flexible and open-minded. The other piece of advice is when I became CEO, I moved into the office next to his office. And I'm like, hmm, how's this going to work? I see you at family dinner sometimes, but now we're sitting right next to each other. I'm like, hmm. He came in my office and he said, little piece of advice. He said, you better be in my office more than I'm in your office. I was like, oh, okay. And he said, do you know what that means? Of course, I said yes. I'm like, well, let me think about that. But yes, I think I do. It's communication. It's when something is going on in the company, he has the same sense of responsibility towards all of our people. He has the same belief and passion that I do, that he wants to know what's going on. Not to micromanage me, but to make sure we're doing the right things for the company and we're all moving in the same direction. So now if something's wrong or we have a crisis or something really amazing happens in our company I walk right in his office. I'm like, hey, I got something to tell you. He's like, I'm in the middle of something. I'm like, no, no, you told me I was supposed to be in your office more than you were in mine, so I'm here. He's like, oh, yeah, what do you want to talk about?

Jon Clifton:
[37:43] So did you ever feel like there was, I don't know, that he was micromanaging or felt like it was hard for him to, I don't know, give up control or anything like that?

Chrissy Taylor:
[37:53] No, I truly believe that he has never micromanaged me, nor have I felt that he has micromanaged me. He is a true strategy governance leader. He understands the long game. He understands setting up the foundation to be successful for the long term. And he knew that he wasn't going to be CEO forever. And he's okay with that. But he knows he has huge influence in the organization. And has the ability to make a decision if he would like. But because he's a governance person and understands structure, he would always come to me first and we would discuss it. And then if I didn't agree, we'd come to some sort of resolution to push it forward. But that has never happened. It's never happened. And so I give him a lot of credit. I give him – our team talks about him all the time. When they see him, they're like, oh my gosh, it's Andy Taylor. I need a selfie with him. I need to talk to him. I just need leadership advice from him. So he has been an absolutely amazing leader for the company and he still is an amazing leader for the company that we need to lean in and we can do this together. We can do it together. I enjoy working with my family and I enjoy working with my dad.

Jon Clifton:
[39:20] We talked about your grandfather's legacy, your dad's legacy. I think using your Futuristic, what's the legacy you want to leave?

Chrissy Taylor:
[39:27] I don't know that yet. Well, I guess it's Enterprise Mobility. I shouldn't say I don't know. But, you know, there is so much more to accomplish as a team and as Enterprise Mobility. And I just want to make sure that when we move into the future and we do different things and exciting things, that we always hold true to our core foundational values and what we do best. And that is, again, I go back to Jack, customers and employees first, and everything else will follow. One thing that Jack always said to me, and we didn't really talk about advice from Jack, is that Jack always asked me and all of our leaders, how are our people and are you having any fun? Jack was always concerned and always wanted to make sure that we were doing the right things by our 90,000 people. Are we giving them the tools, the resources, and what they need to be successful and be recognized within our organization? And then his question about having fun is really, are you passionate about what you're doing? Because it's not full circle from where we started. It's not just being part of the rental car industry. It's about growing. It's about innovating. It's about helping our customers. It's about bringing solutions to them and making the world a better place, if you will. And what is your purpose? And so simple messages. How are our people? And are you having any fun?

Jon Clifton:
[40:59] Chrissy Taylor, thank you for everything that you're doing to build a thriving workplace, to help people with their strengths, and being a great partner to Gallup.

Chrissy Taylor:
[41:06] Thank you very much.

Transcript autogenerated using AI.