We know through research and empirical evidence that likeability is a strong, positive factor when it comes to building trust and credibility, communicating effectively, and influencing people. Yet whenever I point this out to clients or students, I’m frequently met with a smirk or casual eye roll which says that, to them, this level of fluffiness simply has no place in a seriously professional environment. It’s all part of a diminishing interpersonal communication skillset that serious, honest, professional people prefer to dismiss, but charlatans, con men and grifters embrace. Consider the irony.