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Corner Office

Sheryl Palmer on Her ‘Shoes Off’ Leadership Style

Sheryl Palmer is the chief executive of Taylor Morrison, the home-building company.Credit...Earl Wilson/The New York Times

This interview with Sheryl Palmer, C.E.O. of the home-building company Taylor Morrison, has been edited for space and clarity.

Q. What were your early years like?

A. I was born in L.A. but grew up moving a lot, and usually it was because of my mom. She was on the design side of the clothing industry, and my dad was on the retail side.

It taught me to be flexible, because when you’re at that age, you have to reinvent yourself, to be social and to make friends, in different parts of the country. It really taught me about understanding that there are all kinds of people, learning to get along, and making the best out of most situations.

I wanted to work at a young age and make my own money. Because my mom was a designer, we never got to go shopping because she always brought home clothes. And so, as a normal teenager, you don’t want to do that. You want to get your own clothes and look like everybody else.

At 15, I got a job at McDonald’s, and worked there through high school and college. I went into marketing, doing a lot of community functions. When I was 20, I became McDonald’s marketing manager for San Diego.

Every 16-year-old should have to work at McDonald’s, because you really do learn how to work. You have to pull back the equipment and sweep behind. There are no shortcuts. You had to do it right because it was such a part of their brand. There were a lot of life lessons in that job.

What were some early leadership lessons for you?

I was asked to be the sales manager at Sun City West in Phoenix, and I was responsible for about two dozen sales associates who were on average about 25 years older than me. I knew nothing, and I was surrounded by all these experts, but I needed to be a resource.

So what did you do?

It’s about building relationships. It doesn’t matter what the task is, it still comes down to people first. If I owned the responsibility for building a relationship with them, and communicated with them in a way they liked, it was amazing. I also respected their knowledge, and had the humility to know what I didn’t know and not pretend I did.

Other lessons?

There are a number of attributes that form leaders, including the courage to try new things. It’s also about being accessible, approachable and authentic. This role is what I do, but it’s not who I am, and I stay grounded with that.

I started an internal video blog, “Shoes Off with Sheryl.” I named it that because I hate shoes. If I’m in a meeting, my shoes are probably off under the table. As silly as that sounds, that’s who I am, and the day that I have to change who I am to do my job will be the day I really don’t want to do it anymore. I’ve watched so many people lose sight of their personal reality because they felt they had to act or look a certain part.

This isn’t a dress rehearsal. We get one shot at this, and I really do live that way. I had a really tough medical situation about six years ago. I had a brain tumor. So you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

You have to ask yourself, if you really had only 10 days to live, would you be doing what you’re doing? We make choices, and I choose to be happy, and I think that resonates through the organization.

Any feedback you’ve received over the years about your management style?

All the time. I’m really curious, and so I ask a lot of questions. I never go into people’s business because I don’t trust them, but because I want to understand and grow. Sometimes I can be too curious. There’s always one more question. “Sheryl always has one more question,” people say.

And so I’ve had to find the right parameters and make sure they know I’m available but I’m not in their way.

How do you hire?

If it’s a senior executive, I almost always do it in a restaurant because it’s the one time you really can understand the way people interact with others. It gives me so much insight, and I’ve made some really good decisions with folks with impressive résumés who just didn’t know how to do that. Their natural tendencies might not have been to be polite.

I’ll ask about how they define success, personally and professionally. Understanding somebody’s humility really speaks volumes about their leadership. I’m looking for a blend of leadership and business acumen, and that comes out in very real ways when you’re talking to somebody about how they live their life, their family, the things they’ve accomplished, the things they do outside of work and what really gives them energy and pride.

I also look for intellectual curiosity. That really helps me understand how people solve problems and how they approach new circumstances. One question I ask is about their most successful, unexpected events. What were the wins that you really didn’t expect, and how did you achieve those? You start learning about their curiosity, their leadership and how they took a business problem and created an unexpected win, usually through some team dynamic.

I also ask people what skill they had in their leadership toolbox that they wish they had more of. For me, if I ever stop learning, I need to stop working.

What career and life advice do you give to new college grads?

I’ve seen a change in this generation, and there is an anxiousness to just do it all by tomorrow. If I had decided what success was for me at 21 or 22, I would have missed so much opportunity. So keep an open mind because it’s hard to know when you’re 22.

What you think might give you that passion and energy might not be it. So keep a really open mind and be flexible, be nimble. Find what gives you the energy and then go after it with a vengeance, because I do believe that you get one shot at it.

Each week, Adam Bryant talks with top executives about leadership. Follow him on Twitter: @nytcorneroffice. This interview has been edited for space and clarity.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section BU, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: Sometimes Shoeless, Always Real. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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