An open mind
An open mind is the first step in people skills. When you listen to people talk you might just be ascending to the next plane. All it takes is respect for others. Nothing nurtures the mind more than an open mind. You will be amazed at the ideas that come into your head when you understand and agree. A frame of mind that accepts is remarkably superior to a negation. The instant you negate the mind gets all blocked up and one could be dwelling on ones own thoughts instead of concentrating on the other person. Accept what the people around you are saying hypothetically and keep up your absorption at the pace of the conversation. However make sure that the person you are talking to is a good person.

Teams and creativity
It is important that one be as creative as possible and not repeat what other people say. Finally no one will respect a yes man who does not seem to give any output. It is important to create output that goes beyond the input. Initially one may draw a blank but as you exercise the mind you end up learning from your experiences and friends and can put down a definite opinion. Let me illustrate with a simple example:

Four people are running a small business. They are working on a business idea. Two are experienced and two inexperienced. Business ideas keep failing they all wonder what to do. They decide take a break and relax before they hit the desk again. As things go, it turns out that the two guys with the greater experience go out to have coffee together often. The other two team up as well. Hence two groups are formed. The inexperienced ones work hard together in the break and become as good as the other two. This time when everyone gets back to work no one is half asleep. The team is highly motivated and the business gets so many solutions and ideas that it is success all the way.

Talk technical
It is easy to understand that you have a job to do. Do that diligently. It may not work. That is because people skills are involved. Let everyone know that you work - especially your boss. In many cases what happens is that you work hard, however when it comes to a conversation or an appraisal you might be at a loss for words. The reason for this being that your unassuming self does not talk business. People around may think you know nothing. So make sure from a leadership perspective that you do some talking. For example, you could be in a situation where you have created a set of diagrams for your business processes. All the work is your labor. Some smart talker could be selected to present it and grab all the credit. Make sure that to reach the meetings standard you can talk technical. Do not wander away from the topic at hand. The topic is work, work and more work.

Trust and distrust
If you have a good boss