Happy Valentine’s Day, and I hope everybody is having a great 2009!
What better day than today to discuss what it means to be a smooth operator.
What is a smooth operator?
To be a smooth operator means you’re able to handle situations with ease, no matter
how complex the situation is. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about dating, navigating a difficult situation in the office, or getting off the hook when you’ve gotten in some sort of trouble.
I remember working for my first manager out of college at Dell, where he prided himself on being able to negotiate free car washes and great deals on his car. He was also a great salesman. He was confident, made people feel good, and wasn’t the least bit arrogant. He was a smooth operator. He was able to get what he wanted, but he did it by also helping people get what they want.
Being a smooth operator requires you to develop your empathy skills. You need to have an understanding of what people’s goals and motives are and understand how to play to those needs.
Do they need to be heard? Do they need to feel wanted or important?
Be brutally honest to build trust and confidence
It’s one of the lessons that has been the most beneficial for me in my lifetime. Being brutally honest builds trust and confidence. It’s also the right way to start being a smooth operator. By being remarkably honest about your intentions and goals, it becomes incredibly easy to get other people to do the same, and once you can align your goals with someone, you can start to share a story. This is incredibly powerful and something that comes in handy as you’re trying to get your goals accomplished, but it starts with honesty and selfless actions.
It’s my honest opinion that by being honest, you bring out the best side of yourself. You bring out a more confident and more charismatic self that is able to navigate social straits in ways you might not have thought possible.
Remember to keep an eye on other people’s goals. What are they trying to accomplish? What is the output they are trying to achieve, and what emotion makes them most satisfied? A smooth operator makes people feel good, confident, and balances that without being arrogant.
Author:
Adam Salamon is Partnerships Director at Bazaarvoice, Inc., blogs about social media, entrepreneurship, and pop culture. Follow him on Twitter for daily updates.
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Being a baby boomer, many of us were taught there was something wrong with “getting what you want” and that somehow that was a horrible trait…like bragging about yourself. As a career counselor and HR consultant, I spend have my coaching time undoing that myth with candidates who think there is something akin to the devil in selling yourself. Being a smooth operator would be tantamount to being the sleaze of the party.
You’ve made a wonderful, logical point that by helping others everyone can have what they want. I especially like how you describe aligning your goals with others, and beginning to share a story.
Nicely put! Thank you. I’m going to reference this post in our blog for blending work and life.
We have to undo many of the social myths with which we were raised, when everything was so black and white.
Thanks for the comments, Elizabeth. You’re right–I think win-win scenarios are more possible than people imagine, but many are raised to think otherwise.
I think that gets reinforced when people and organizations start to trade short-term goals for long-term success. i.e. Crash dieting, short-term sales goals/metrics, etc.
Adam, great post. I recently interviewed with a search committee for the top marketing and communications position at a private university. Great job. My brutal honesty cost me the job, however…and I’m fine with that. Turns out the committee included a rep from their PR agency of record. One of my 100-day Plan recommendations was to terminate the agency and handle PR with an in-house manager/staff. It was the right idea if I was going to be running the department, but it cost me his 20% vote. I could have lied to win the job, but what good would my word have been going forward. Thanks for the post. Mark O.
Hi Mark,
Sorry to hear that honesty cost you the job, but it sounds like you have the right attitude and understand that the job itself isn’t what would ultimately make you happy if you would have had to make decisions that weren’t in your department’s best interests.
I hope I’ll see you around here.
Adam- Great article and I agree. I have lived by a prinicpal that I learned long ago from a VP at my company….Try to help others achieve their goals/objectives/agenda at least 20% of the time during your day. It is truly amazing what you can do and get accomplished just by helping others.
Adam-
Nice article. I coild not agree with it more. all the best…