Hiring one or two engineers (per team) who are as technically capable as they are socially capable is ideal. The Rodrigos on the team will rely on this person t

Hiring one or two engineers (per team) who are as technically capable as they are socially capable is ideal. The Rodrigos on the team will rely on this person to communicate what the hell is going on, and the Gabriellas will (must) raise their game -- although, I think that you can do without a Gabriella if you have one or two of these ideal engineers around. The combination of coding and employee skills usually also means that this person is a good candidate for a team lead. If you've never worked with someone who's an A+ engineer as well as a fantastic teammate/subordinate, you don't know what you're missing. The unsocializable uber-geeks can do what they do best, which is produce great code, and the managers are much more informed (and relaxed). And the teammates (like me) find working with them a pleasure. In summary, coding skill vs. employee skill is a false dichotomy; the alternative is someone who has both skills and whose value to a team and to management acts as a team & production multiplier.