Leadership Questions

Jimmy Smith, I&E Reliability Superintendent

2026-05-14

I was spending some time with Mr. Tibari and discussing wanting to pick folks’ brains about leadership and he suggested Jimmy Smith. He quoted the phrase “Energy, Frequency, Vibration” that Jimmy has at the bottom of his email signature and how he personally has had these conversations (or something similar) with Jimmy. So I was very excited to set up some time to talk. Oishik also recommended Jimmy and wanted to join so I was able to get even more insights. Here’s the initial email I sent

Jimmy,

I’m trying to ask folks about how they think about/go about leadership and you were highly recommended.

I’d love to set some time on your calendar to sit and talk.

Here’s some of the questions I’m mulling over but the conversation can be more free-flowing.

• How would you define your leadership style, and how has it evolved?

• What makes “a good leader”?

• Who do you look to as a great leader (inside or outside of the company)? What about them do you admire/want to imitate? Is there a mentor you really grew under?

• How do you motivate/make people feel a part of something bigger than themselves?

• How do you identify talent?

• How do you balance holding onto good people vs helping them advance their careers in other roles?

-Nagle

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!!How did you get where you are

Initially Jimmy didn’t want to be a leader, just a good IC. But as his career developed, he started to see “oh I would do this differently” or “why did make that decision”. When the need for an Instrumentation group was identified and he was tapped to potentially lead the group, he took the chance. It was a double whammy of building a whole new group from scratch plus being a new leader and how to manage a team.

One of the key phrases he mentioned was “If I don’t do it, who will?” and will they do it to the level it should be. The burden of responsibility that if you don’t step up, you can’t complain.

!!What are good leadership skills

He mentioned the fact he always had a leadership mindset, that leadership is not always a position but it’s also about how you conduct yourself and interact with others. “If you’re an A-hole, you’re gonna be an A-hole boss”

He highlighted

-          Consistency

-          Being Authentic. This is “say what you do and do what you say”

-          Everyone is watching. Not just your employees but those also outside your group. Leaders set the weather with how they act

-          Care about the people, have an interest in them as a person. This is knowing them beyond the job role

-          Being technically sound. You need to know their job enough to help lead them when decisions are being made.

The bad ones

-          Micromanager

-          Inflexibility

-          Lack of empathy

-          Fear of underlings having the answer instead of themselves.

##A leader is a psychologist, therapist, counselor. You deal way more with people’s problems than with problems. Another great point from Jimmy was he said, “I work for you, my employees”. He’s there to protect and grow them as individuals, not just a boss who lords over. He’s going to hold them to account, but he’s protective that no one outside the group is going to direct them wrongly.

!!Leadership Skill Jimmy is trying to work on

Keeping track of initiatives, statuses of projects, and just overall being organized and on top of every little request. It can be a lot and sometimes folks need to remind him

!!How to set a team’s culture

Jimmy highlighted that he’s not trying to just be liked, but respected. It’s not just “oh it’s a fun/chill place” but no, we are proficient at our work and there’s a level of prestige about his team. He set this at the very beginning of his role as the I&E Reliability Superintendent role. Day 1 he established “We are RELIABILITY. This is what reliability means and I’m going to hold y’all to this standard”

!!Communication

Communication was one of the bigger points he hit on. Jimmy has the personal skills to talk with disagreeable people but still get a common resolution. “you gotta be able to finesse”, Sometimes you need to sit back and let them talk it out. Be quiet, listen, and then you can reiterate back “here’s what you’re saying, I understand x,y,z”. Some folks just want to be heard and acknowledged, if you show you’re willing to listen you can work better with them. BUT don’t just listen to respond, it’s got to be a genuine listen to understand.

##Another strong point he made was being able to have a dialogue/debate with someone but not to hold a grudge and be about to move on. Forgive and forget attitude because it’s resolved we know what we are going to do about it, let’s move on.

!!What can an employee/IC do to put themselves on the radar for others?

Oishik asked Jimmy about how can us as ICs shine and get recognized.

1.      Do your job right now well.

2.      Work well with others, the collaboration with other teams helps amplify the good work you do.

##People “see how you move”. If you are antagonistic or difficult, people won’t advocate for you. Jimmy used the phrase “see how you move” a couple times over the conversation. It really opened the fact that you’re always on show. Every day you are showing others who you really are.

!!Who are the leaders you look up to/try to emulate

Jimmy mentioned a couple previous leaders. He did say how he’s been lucky to have mostly good leaders (80% good, 20% bad).

• Kurt Stansbury - Even though he didn’t have electrical background he was really good about leaning on his team members to get the right answer

• Bryan Canfield - Another technically component leader. He’s got strong common sense and asks ‘why aren’t we doing this’

-          Dirk Perrin - Jimmy highlighted that Dirk is probably the best plant manager he’s worked for. He sets clear expectations for the team/site. The other highlight is how Dirk will close his laptop and give someone his full attention. His care for the people helps to steer the ship

##This is the fourth or fifth person that raves about Dirk and his leadership. I’ll definitely will need to pick his brain!

!!Energy, Frequency, Vibration

I had to ask Jimmy about his phrase, where it came from and what it means to him. It comes from Nikola Tesla who said if you want to understand the universe you need to know energy, frequency, vibration. He highlighted how people need electricity to beat their heart, when you click with someone y’all are just vibing and on the same frequency. If you think about light, that’s just photons frequencies, sound is just vibrations. The energy you put out is what the universe feels.

##it reminded me about the law of attraction and how what you put out into the world is what you manifest

!!How does Jimmy evaluate talent when thinking about hiring someone

Start with technical capability. You gotta be able to do the job to the standard I expect for this team. Then you must be a good fit for the team, about uplift and mesh with the team (have the right frequency).

During interview Jimmy will ask “tell me about your experience with X” instead of just “are you familiar with X”. This is so he can try to get their answer, not just a canned answer. Jimmy also will challenge them and really know they are proficient at the job. He’s not just going to settle for “the best of the bunch” he’ll close the position and try hiring again. Jimmy will also bring them back for a second or third interview. He’ll have them sit down with the team or with the crafts, just to see them talk and how their click. Jimmy mentioned finding “where’s the level of excitement?” when asking about different aspects of the role. If they have a passion for something, you’ll see it in their eyes and demeanor.

!!How do you get good information from your team?

Since Jimmy is a superintendent, he has team leads then individual contributors below him. So how he stays informed was a great question from Oishik.

Jimmy mentioned asking “Who, What, Where, How” during staffs. They talk about everybody and get a more wholistic assessment. He also checks in with the units and other groups to see how his employees are working. YOU got to know each person; their strengths, opportunities, where they want to go. As a leader he has “the expectation is they move on and move up”

!!How do you think about external hire vs internal promotion

9 out of 10 times if someone within the team already has those leadership skills, the team will accept or even champion them. Plus you don’t have to train someone up on how we do things. Jimmy mentioned “be ready so you don’t have to get ready”. It reminded me about how every day you need to update your resume. How you move impacts future prospect.

!!How do you lead an individual in a different branch of the org

You can’t lead someone who doesn’t want it, so Jimmy doesn’t get involved unless they reach out for advice. He starts with “are you willing to listen?” and if they agree he’ll give them the unbiased truth, and it can be a little tough love.

!!How does a supervisor advocate for their employee (promotion, salary raise)

You need to help them build a plan, Here’s X,Y,Z of what I expect. But if they execute you take that body of work and push it up, being willing to hold your ground and fight for your team members. Jimmy mentioned how some team leads won’t push back against their bosses, even if you have the evidence.

end of convo————