>So one would be more 'likeable' and 'popular'?
Yes. So when you meet people that are worth knowing, they don't have an aversion to meeting you again.
>So one can "brown-nose" ones way to success?
Unless you are a super-genius, you are apt to more quickly obtain interesting and lucrative work if people enjoy spending time with you than if the opposite is true.
If you are a super-genius, then feel free to be obnoxious (Newton, Einstein, and a host of others come to mind).
No, seriously I am not that obnoxious unless someone pisses me off and believe me after working as an onsite technician for an ISP it is hard to piss me off.