Interesting. I guess it comes down to personal preference. Would you rather work with somebody exceptional but abrasive, as opposed to somebody average but nice? I think many people would choose the former.<p>I think the reason exceptional people are abrasive is that they are primarily harsh to themselves, and that&#x27;s the reason of their success. Being harsh to others is merely a side effect.<p>And there are people like that in every profession, for example in modern magic Dai Vernon (one of the most respected magicians that ever lived), who was also infamous for being very critical to bad magicians.