The show above focused on Mr. Narayana Murthy, co-founder of India's third-largest IT services company. I came across him because of an assignment I needed to do for a Coursera course I am currently taking. The course is about utilizing emotional and social competencies in order to become a more effective leader; the assignment was for us to determine which competencies Mr. Murthy displays on the life experiences he recounts during this interview.
I've never really bothered myself with the Indian scene before; I am really impressed at the kind of leadership Mr. Murthy shows during their talk. Being in the IT services field myself, I can appreciate the hardship he must have endured to get his venture off the ground. His example makes me agree that the technical skills only matter inasmuch as getting one's foot through the door is concerned; these emotional and social skills make the difference.
However, I can't quite shake the idea that this thesis mostly works for people in management positions, and probably in fields that require collaboration. For knowledge workers or people concerned with individual output the technical skill might matter more; in which case it is mastery of the field which is the decider.
Ultimately, in my opinion you need the "soft skills" to rise up and secure a good future for yourself; it is unfortunate but programming can be a dead end for generalists and specialists whose technology the world has passed by. But the kind of work you get into is still going to be determined by your skill; the better you are, the more opportunities are open to you. You have more options, and this means you are more robust - i.e., better able to thrive under less-than-ideal conditions.
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