People judge strangers based on warmth (intent to harm or help) and competence (ability to act on the intent). Warmth and competence shape social perception and group stereotypes, giving rise to emotions like admiration, contempt, envy, and pity.
The kicker is together they are negatively correlated. Groups competing for resources get hostility, while high-status groups are seen as competent. No threat equals warmth, and status symbols show competence. “Brilliant, but cruel” or the “high performing a-hole” may be personas we are familiar with. In book reviews, negative reviewers are perceived as more intelligent than positive reviewers. Even if the content of the positive review was independently judged to be of higher quality. Social psychologists Susan Fiske, Amy Cuddy, Peter Glick, and Jun Xu introduced this model. Tests confirm it predicts stereotypes and reactions across cultures, even in interpersonal perception.
Check out the image above of the Stereotype Content Model (SCM)
The strategy recommended by renowned psychologist Robert Cialdini (Influence The Psychology of Persuasion) is to show competence, then warmth -- because people see the warmth as unexpected from someone in power. And as people rise in an organization, they are evaluated on what they can get done rather than how nice they are. In the world of leadership and management, warmth is associated with building relationships, while competence is linked to achieving goals.
. (7 Rules of Power, one of my favs, covers this more in depth)