Being smooth socially IS a skill. We should stop dismissing the talent/ability to interact with other humans. People have to make trust decisions with limited

Being smooth socially IS a skill. We should stop dismissing the talent/ability to interact with other humans. People have to make trust decisions with limited and imperfect information. The world is full of danger and risk. Being able to develop trust through relationships skills enable others to make choices regarding who they should associate and spend time with. Then you say: a lot of these people just pretend to be something they are not for personal gain. Well, sure, ANY skill can be used for personal gain at the expense of others. I've worked with amazingly competent, but unpleasant (not an asshole) people. And with mediocre, pleasant people. While I recognize that the amazingly competent, unpleasant people are also deserving of a portion of our riches, I would rather spend my day with pleasant people. And, more often than not, so do customers. If I'm dealing with another company, I'd rather work with people with good communication skills and let them sort things out with the unpleasant ones. No wonder the people with good communication end up becoming the bosses. My own career really took off when I stopped focusing solely on technical minutia (I had always been a "hardcore" engineer) and spend time, instead, learning about behaviors for developing trust and smoothing personal interactions. That when I became the boss.