Monday, December 9, 2024
AZLE — T.D. Smyers grew up near Azle in Boyd. He returned to the area to speak on the importance of questions at a Nov. 5 Azle Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Smyers is a coach who trains executives in leadership and communication. He has a long history in the United States Navy.
Smyers told his story about wanting to join the U.S. Naval Academy as a junior at Boyd High School. After applying, he received a letter saying he was not qualified for automatic acceptance. When he brought the issues up to his school counselor, the counselor asked him a question that would change his approach to problem solving for the rest of his life.
“Are you unqualified?”
Smyers believed he was qualified, so he wrote a letter bringing the issue back up with the academy. By following up, he took the necessary steps to ensure he was admitted and he ultimately served in the military for 31 years.
After leaving the service, he worked for nonprofits for a number of years and then took a pause to stay in the Caribbean where he thought about his life’s trajectory. He decided he would use his experience to coach executives and company leaders. In coaching one of his first clients, he asked a soon-to-be chief executive officer if he might he overthinking his worries. Smyers said that by phrasing it as a question, he was able to get the man to reflect on the issue and avoid any conflict that telling him outright might have caused.
“That set the tone for our entire relationship and his ultimate succession to be the chief executive of that company,” Smyers said. “Questions are superpowers, not only in a coaching relationship but in relationships too. Why? Because questions, they tend to emphasize the other person you're talking to and not you.”
Smyers said that by being genuinely curious, bosses and leaders can completely change relationship dynamics between them and their employees. He recounted another experience as a mission commander of an aircraft where he smelled alcohol on his radar operator’s breath. Instead of telling him what he did wrong, he instead asked him what he thought was the right thing to do. The radar operator admitted to his behavior and Smyers said they were able to preserve their relationship.
Lastly, Smyers tied the recent Nov. 5 election into his talk. Smyers said that by asking your friends, relatives and colleagues questions about their candidates and choices you could preserve relationships and have more productive conversations.
