The Key to Success

People have come up with various 'enablers' of success - hardwork, talent, luck, the list goes on. My views on luck are amply and widely known, therefore let me exclude it from the discussion here. I honestly feel that success boils down to just one over-arching statement: How well you can relate to the person sitting in front of you.
In the case of a sub-ordinate, noone will deny that being on good terms with your boss beyond just work definitely speeds up the promotion process. In the case of entrepreneur, his ability to relate to the PE or VC folks beyond just the text in the pitchbook helps establish that 'chemistry', (which is undefinable even today). In the case of the B2B, the manager's ability to conduct small talk with his customers aids him/ her in getting the foot in the door, as well as possibly the sale itself. Job opportunities open up because people like 'hanging out with each other' (a live example presents itself in IIM B). My views on this with regards to the spouse need not be emphasized again. The list goes on...
The caveat to this statement is this: How well you can relate to the person sitting in front of you (let us call this person A) means you know everything about A's business, you know everything about A's interests to carry on a conversation beyond the regular talk, you know your strengths inside out and weaknesses inside out to phrase it in appropriately in A's language . It means you get down the nitty-gritty engineering details if required, by your customer, you present a particular aspect more emphatically than others to the PE ,you find out if there any new developments in the manager's life (e.g. birth of a son/ daughter), you read up on a TV Series your spouse enjoys just so that you're conversational on it, and once again, the list goes on...
Most people understand the need for an excellent 'product' - be it themselves for the job interview, or a durable for the consumer. Very few people remember to put in a personal touch in the relationship. This key element is often forgotten and people wonder what happened then...

Guilty until proven Innocent... or vice versa?

Another interesting discussion prior to this post with someone VERY dear to me must be credited with these... thoughts... before I proceed - it would be unfair to say this was my wholly brain child (whether you agree or disagree with my POV is a different issue).
Every newspaper carries stories of murder, theft and rape. For rape cases, the name of victim is never mentioned, or identity is protected for many reasons (honor of the victim being one of them). The accused's names are however quite wildly splashed around the news paper. In the case of murder and theft as well, if the names can be identified, then the names of the 'suspects' are mentioned, almost as having been guilty, if not already identified as guilty.
I (and I believe the bobbies are too) contend that by mentioning the name of these accused you are violating the latin principle Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat or the presumption of innocence for the individual. Some opinion leaders offer that perhaps people can be on the lookout for these 'accused' people and be wary of them. My argument is this: If my friend X from Bombay commits a crime of some sort in the Northeastern part of India, who in great god's name is going to know who X is?
To really allow folks to be wary of the potentially guilty folks, a proper description should be published along with a sketch. f the individual is not guilty after the trial, then even if X is exonerated, the 'stigma' and suspicion remains (most notably in the case of the OJ Simpson trial).
No names should ever be mentioned for any of these cases until it has been established 'beyond reasonable doubt' that the individual is guilty. However, the opinion leaders do have a valid point about releasing the names (and potentially their descriptions) for the 'greater good' if you will, thus sacrificing what is a constitutional right in many countries (my home country included). And yet another case of individual versus collective good emerges...