Here’s snarky contrarian view: social skills matter more than technical skills the further in your career you go. You must have the ability to communicate ideas powerfully to advance your career. These are some strategies I’ve researched and used myself. 1) Tailor your ideas to your audience The first rule in the workplace: nobody cares about the work you’re doing. Not your colleagues, not your boss. Think about it. Everyone’s busy trying to hit their own goals, so they only care things that directly affect them. No matter how brilliant your ideas or how wonderful a communicator you are, people won’t listen unless you have something useful. We are all self-serving people. So keep a profile of the people at work you interact with.  What they want, what they need and what they are working for. There are some people who never want to rock the ......