[muzani]

Paul Graham advises otherwise:

http://www.paulgraham.com/good.html

http://www.paulgraham.com/safe.html

http://www.paulgraham.com/mean.html

Here's a VC, whose main driving force is the rate of company growth, telling people that they benefit from being nicer.

I believe Sturgeon's Law applies to companies as well. The average programmer is pretty incompetent and paid terribly, but often not within our social groups. Most CEOs you have access to would probably not be hired by a good company; the good ones are likely outside our social circle.