During my years as a journalist, I became adept at extracting information from people.

To get the right answers, you need to ask the right questions – and then shut up.

You also need to be curious and keen to learn, because that’s what inspires you to ask questions and really listen to the answers.

That partly explains why I’m having lunch with 500 strangers, and how I’m approaching the process.

So I was delighted when my 21st lunch companion, Glendon Jackson Evarts, flipped the script on me.

Glendon is an amazing listener. And he asks amazing questions. Why? Because he’s curious and keen to learn.

We spent quite a bit of time discussing my newish business, Hunter & Scribe, including how I might become better at sales. Glendon helped me extract information that had been hidden inside my brain. How? By having the intelligence to ask the right questions and the humility to silently listen to my answers.

Glendon has spent much of his career managing salespeople. He’s learned that if you want to be a good sales coach, you need to get to know them on an individual level and learn their personal motivations.

It all comes back to asking the right questions.