Taylor Scott, speaker, leadership development consultant, and author of Lead with Hospitality, has written a new book called Give Hospitality.

It is a quick 185-page read focused on increasing business success by making organizations more human and generous.

Scott shares the content in a fictional account of a training class for new employees in a hotel. It turns out to be a very good vehicle for getting through the 20 key topics. My only qualm with it is that the characters in the story are a bit too sweet for my taste. There is only one character who is at all contrary, and even then, he soon finds his charming side like the rest. I was able to get beyond this, though, as the content was quite good and very worthwhile for anyone who wants to create a great workplace culture that will appeal to employees, leaders, and customers.

The 20 topics are grouped in fours under 5 headers: Compassion, Encouragement, Kindness, Hospitality, and Leadership, using the acronym GIVE to organize them. For example, under Leadership, we have Gratitude, Intentionality, Values, and Empathy. It all works quite well and, as someone who has taught hundreds of new employee classes, makes a lot of sense from a teaching perspective.

For each topic, Taylor defines the concept and then provides ways it impacts culture and performance. He also gives practical exercises to help readers implement the concepts in their daily work and lives.

Scott does a good job of making a business case for what many people would deem “soft” subjects. For example, when he talks about inclusivity, it isn’t about being politically correct; it’s about the value of getting different perspectives that relate to the real world. He also points out how including people creates a tight team that connects to a common cause. Anyone who has ever led a team can immediately see how beneficial that can be. The book is full of useful examples like this.

Overall, I liked the book and think it is a very valuable read for any leader who wants to create a hospitality environment for their employees and customers. And don’t think that it only applies to what we traditionally think of as hospitality businesses; this content can be applied to any organization in any industry, whether for-profit, nonprofit, religious, secular, educational, or any other type you can think of.

If you want to create a workplace where employees want to work and customers want to buy, this book might be your jump start. In fact, the way it is set up, you could probably easily design a class of your own based around it. My suggestion: go get it, read it, and do some good with it.

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