Actually advertising yourself is a huge factor in things like these.
Merit doesn't always count. Look at it this way, a manager is likely to promote a guy who for example... takes him out for lunch, looks after his interests at work and else where. Managers trust 'yes men'. So if you work hard but don't quite really act like their closest associates in the gang, you are done. Nerds with high self worth, who can actually be something by themselves by their work and sweat alone can't do all this. They always lose out like edw519 even if they have done 3x the work.
Lose out might be the wrong word. Because though you lose out on the shorter run. On the longer run, the 'yes men' lose capability to do something on their own (Read:Retire on their middle management job). The hard working nerd, if he really sticks to his guns and doesn't give up will make it big someday.
To put it a little less cynically (those who take care of their image at the office are not always 'yes men'), look at making sure that your accomplishments are recognized as part of your job.
If you write a bunch of code but don't test it before shipping, it doesn't matter how hard you worked on it -- if it's got a ton of bugs, you can't really expect a pat on the back.
Similarly, if you accomplish stuff for the company and nobody knows, what credit can you expect for it?
I believe he was referring to Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence[1].
Edit:
Though it's been a while since I read it last, I remember finding it very informative and insightful. I don't think you need to be a psychologist or neuroscience expert to read it and benefit.
dmiladinov is right with the book. I bought it half a year ago, actually I also got pointed to it via some HN post. I only read a few dozen pages at the start and in the middle yet, but it is certainly interesting I think. IIRC the reviews on Amazon are very mixed though.
Merit doesn't always count. Look at it this way, a manager is likely to promote a guy who for example... takes him out for lunch, looks after his interests at work and else where. Managers trust 'yes men'. So if you work hard but don't quite really act like their closest associates in the gang, you are done. Nerds with high self worth, who can actually be something by themselves by their work and sweat alone can't do all this. They always lose out like edw519 even if they have done 3x the work.
Lose out might be the wrong word. Because though you lose out on the shorter run. On the longer run, the 'yes men' lose capability to do something on their own (Read:Retire on their middle management job). The hard working nerd, if he really sticks to his guns and doesn't give up will make it big someday.