Being liked is more important than being competent

Pambula, New South Wales, on January 5, 2020 CNN

Paraphrased from a lunch meeting today:

'Being liked is more important than being competent.'
Local businessman

Profound...

This is often true in the context of business, but the businessman agreed
that it was often true in various areas of life.

It is certainly often true in academia. I would add that being known and liked is
often more important than actually being less competent than the less known and less liked competition in regard to skill and performance.