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Who's who: Keith Taylor

Keith Taylor is the only executive at NCR, and maybe in the ATM industry, with a $99 neon hot dog hanging on his office wall. Like most objects in Taylor's life, it has an interesting story behind it.

April 17, 2003

Some corporate types try to impress office visitors with artworks purchased for six- or even seven figures. Keith Taylor isn't one of them.

Taylor, senior vice president of NCR's Financial Solutions division, has a $99 hot dog on his wall. The neon sign, like every object in his life, has a story behind it.

While leading NCR's Systemedia division, which sells receipt paper, ink cartridges and other supplies, Taylor challenged his staff to create a Web site where all of Systemedia's products could be purchased online, by the end of the 2001's first quarter. He got a call on the night of March 31 that the site was "live," ordered the sign and became its first customer.

"I paid for the damn thing myself," Taylor said. "Where I go, it goes."

Worldly guy

Though Taylor is currently based in Dayton, Ohio, his duties have taken him to both Europe and Asia, where he headed up customer service initiatives for NCR. Fortunately, he loves to travel. In fact, he chose to work for NCR largely because of the company's global operations.

Keith Taylor and the precious artwork in his office.

As NCR's vice president of Asia-Pacific Customer Services, Taylor spearheaded the creation of the company's service businesses in both China and India, two of the fastest-growing ATM markets in the world.

"The most fun thing you can do is to bring a business to a market that needs it," he said. "It's a great feeling to hire people and improve local economies. I've yet to find a culture that doesn't value convenience."

Service is perhaps the most important element to entering new markets, Taylor added. "You want to be there first and be good. Once you get (customers) and you keep them satisfied, they have no reason to leave you."

The key to managing a global business, Taylor said, is to understand cultural differences. "Some cultural attributes cannot be changed, and others must be changed. The real trick is knowing the difference."

Becky, his wife of 32 years, has a "sense of adventure" and was willing to temporarily put her career as a pediatric nurse practitioner on hold while the family was stationed in cities like Amsterdam and Sydney, Taylor said.

Sons Andrew, a 22-year-old who will graduate from the University of Michigan this summer with a degree in international studies, and 24-year-old Joshua, who is studying computer programming at Cincinnati State University, also enjoyed globe trotting as teenagers.

As an avid reader of National Geographic magazine while growing up in Loveland, Ohio, a town of 5,000 near Cincinnati, Taylor said he could not have imagined feeding lettuce to a dancing "lion" at a business lunch in China or participating in a Hindu ritual to mark the opening of NCR's ATM management center in Mumbai, India.

"I've always had a thirst for the new, even as a kid. I've been lucky to be put in jobs that rewarded that," he said.

'Poster boy' for career development

Indeed, Taylor, who is in his 18th year with NCR, calls himself a "poster boy for career development" at the company. "I didn't think I was going to be a lifer with NCR, but I've been given so many opportunities to learn and contribute," he said.

Taylor credits mentors like Lars Nyberg, the company's former chief executive, and Ed McHugh, his former boss at Systemedia, with helping him develop his professional chops. McHugh showed him how all different areas of a business -- sales, marketing, product development, service -- can work together as an effective whole.

Taylor first caught McHugh's attention as an employee of NCR's accounting department. The department could only afford a single PC, so Taylor rigged up a cart that could be wheeled from desk to desk. He created a flag labeled "PC1" so that all could easily see the cart as it traveled around the room.

That kind of innovative thinking, along with seemingly boundless energy and intensity, helped Taylor advance rapidly up NCR's corporate ladder. Taylor is "focused on the right initiatives to drive business," said Dan McCabe, NCR's vice president of human resources. McCabe has worked with Taylor for seven years, reporting directly to him for the past two.

"Where self-service is now, we need someone like Keith to drive us to the next level of performance," McCabe said. "Keith is a strong agent for change. He is unwilling to accept the status quo, especially in areas where we're not performing well or could be performing better."

While Taylor encourages his employees to work hard, McCabe said, he is also "very humanistic" and "absolutely respects people's balance between work and family."

Always on the go

Taylor admits he gets by on five or six hours of sleep a night and often works 12-hour days. "I think I was born with an extra energy gene," he said.

Larry Bone, a neighbor of Taylor's who has known him for nearly 20 years, said, "Keith runs nonstop from the time he gets up -- which is early -- to when he goes to bed -- which is late."

Taylor makes time for non-work pursuits, including teaching Sunday school and counseling youth in juvenile detention centers. Those types of personally fulfilling activities are "my way of maintaining balance," Taylor said. "I'm so intense at work, it could just eat me up."

While he tries to separate activities like gardening on his 10-acre farm from work, Taylor finds himself applying lessons learned from one to the other. "Planting a business in a new area is like planting a seed," he said. "You can stand over it and yell at it, but it doesn't make it grow any faster."

Taylor uses the spoils from his garden for two of his other hobbies, cooking and entertaining. Bone said "it put a severe crimp in our culinary experiences" when the Taylors' kitchen was shut down for more than six months for an extensive renovation.

Taylor's eyes light up when he talks about his new stove, which features six burners -- one custom fitted for a wok -- and two ovens. On his frequent travels, Taylor always makes time to shop for exotic spices, oils and other foodstuffs to share with friends in Dayton.

He was able to share his broader love of Asian culture by helping bring an exhibit called "Glory of the Silk Road: Art from Ancient China," to the Dayton Art Institute, where he serves on the board of directors. Taylor said the exhibit of fifth to ninth century artifacts provided a great opportunity to remind folks in NCR's hometown of the company's global focus. NCR associates volunteered to work as tour guides during the exhibit's three-month run.

"NCR is an important part of Dayton history. But we're also part of a larger global community with a responsibility to be good global citizens," he said. "This was a way for us to bring those two worlds together."