This is a really fascinating thread. I think that I am an example of this 'in progress' so to speak. Definitely an academic success - I got the highest grades at school, for my first degree and my master's degree. I am also doing well in my career, but not as well as I could be. The reason is that I lack confidence in dealing with people sometimes. However, I wouldn't say that my social skills are outright poor. When I work one-to-one with people, I think that I really try to understand where they are coming from and I have some good feedback on this. I think that being well-rounded is definitely important as it means that you have a lot to talk about and have more than just your education. However, the flip side of that is that too many outside activities can really hamper your education. I've seen this many times.
I've seen the key word come up a few times in this thread and it's important: passion. You can be technically accurate, do a good job at things, but unless your passion comes across (or you have exceptional networking skills), you won't be as successful as you could be.
In truth, I don't think it's even about intelligence. I'd credit myself with having some but I know there are many people who were smarter than me who didn't do as well as I did and still aren't. I truly believe it's because of the lack of passion on their part. Also, it isn't just about having passion it's about expressing it... people need to feel it.
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