@whatisyourquest, do you work in software development, or some other kind of engineering and analysis? Whether it’s right or not, I usually think of techies as programmers.
My 30+ years in the software biz supports a lot of what the author of the article was saying. I’ve worked in groups of developers from my very first job. Techies don’t need to be bubbly, back-slapping extroverts, but they do need to be able to communicate what they’re doing and work collaboratively with others on the team.
A bigger problem than “loner-males” are alpha-males who need to prove they’re the best programmer in the group. They usually do that by criticizing the work of their teammates, which turns the team dynamic from collaborative to confrontational, and prevents the team from making progress. That’s why, occasionally in job ads, you’ll see a statement like, “No Know-It-Alls.”
I’ve also found that most programmers don’t aspire to be managers. They’re more interested in their craft. That’s why “tech leads” came about. They tend to be senior programmers who lead a group of other programmers on a project, while still doing some coding. They will be involved in hiring and coordination among team members, and often represent the team to upper management and customers, but aren’t normally in charge of budgets or other administrative issues. They do need good interpersonal skills to be successful.