Knowledge or Style?

Last week in class we discussed characteristics that make for good relationships. Primarily, we considered business relationships with the understanding that the principles involved extend beyond business into more abstract forms of human interaction. It seemed that knowledge and business acumen were paramount to the effectiveness of a relationship while my personal favorite - individual style - wasn't even a distant second, but rather an after thought.

What can I say? I disagree. I don't question the findings of the research we discussed, but rather the psychological or self-understanding of those interviewed. I realize that we all value knowledgable people and those that are well read and strategic thinkers. Certainly, all things being equal, these are important traits - but things are rarely equal.

We all know the person who can score a near-perfect on the GMAT and dazzle audiences with little-known facts and insightful ideas only to be ignored by the masses because she just can't relate to people. No one likes him. Consider the transaction between job applicant and interviewer. It seems, for many jobs, that the "airport test" and the ability to relate to people in the company are far more important than a high IQ. In fact, I believe it was later in the same class that Doug mentioned the most common reason for hiring someone - liklihood of fit.

I am sticking to my guns on this one: likability and rapport building trump business acumen and strategic thinking ability 99 times of 100. Any salesman will tell you, people buy from those they like - end of story. The survey respondents, no doubt, value the knowledge, but if they don't like the seller the knowledge doesn't matter and perhaps those respondents didn't consider this most important fact as they filled out the survey. I guess time will tell whether you agree with me...