In 2008 the US Democratic Party brought the presidential primary race to New Hampshire. A debate was held between four candidates including then-Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. During the event, the moderator directed a question at Clinton: “You are the most experienced and the most electable. . . . But what can you say to the voters of New Hampshire who see your resume and like it, but are hesitating on the likability issue? They seem to like Barack Obama more?”

To this, Clinton responded, “Well, that hurts my feelings.” She then paused, played to the pity of her audience by dropping her head, and said, “But I’ll try to go on.”

In acquiescence, she added, “He’s very likable. I agree with that. I don’t think I’m that bad.”

Obama then paid her the unforgettable backhanded compliment of the entire campaign: “You’re likable enough, Hillary.”45

During that debate, Clinton was the expert. And eight years later when she ran again and debated Donald Trump, she was the expert again. But both times she lost the election. Just because experts have talent, education, and experience, it does not mean people will like them. In fact, the more accomplished an expert becomes, the higher the probability that likability will be an issue.

Of course, there are many times when expertise is more important than temperament, but temperament matters, and it matters a lot more than some experts think. Likable people gain trust and influence. If your audience likes you, they will overlook your flaws, as well as flaws in your product or service. They will forgive and forget old issues. They will award you with more business and will pay you more money. If something goes wrong, and it eventually will, people who like you will give you the benefit of the doubt and minimize the error. Being likable has many advantages.

Most experts understand that they should try to be likable, yet many do little to address deficiencies in this area. Let’s face it, for some experts, being likable is difficult, and in fact some of them became experts intentionally so they could justify their unlikability. For them it is easier to become an expert in their field of study than to develop a pleasant personality. Some experts would never allow themselves to have a knowledge gap in their field of expertise, yet they will spend their entire careers with likability gaps in their personality.

Your competition is working hard at being likable even if you are not. Most non-experts know that if they cannot outsmart an expert then they still have a good chance of beating that person by being more amiable, more pleasant, more appealing, and more good-natured.

As hard as it may seem for some experts, they can learn to be likable. This is not about just being tolerable, by the way. Many experts are tolerable, but few are truly charming. Likable experts acknowledge other people and are kind, pleasant, and friendly. If those things don’t come naturally, then an expert should practice until they can genuinely have those qualities in their interactions with other people. Showing genuine interest in an audience and listening to them when they speak will take an expert a long way.

In addition, being likable means being sympathetic and patient. It means realizing that people are more important than expertise. Being likable means remaining happy even when it is hard to be happy and refraining from easily becoming irritable or angry. Likable people are not disagreeable, even when they disagree.

Great experts take the time to discover things about their audience that is sincerely interesting and laudable. They do thoughtful and kind things for their audience or, better yet, for their audiences’ colleagues. One of the most likable things any person can do is to help another person’s child. Find ways to help people and lift them. If you are an expert and you are likable, truly likable, then you cannot be stopped. Likability and industry-leading expertise are a rare combination.

Experts should never be satisfied with being “likeable enough.” If someone says you are likable enough, then be assured, you are not likable enough. If Senator Clinton did not prove that likability is essential in 2008, then she certainly did in 2016.