Excellent point! I think this is a very important aspect of being a good pilot. You have to be able to make decisions that will occasionally result in some personal embarrassment or making someone angry. If you're overly concerned about what others think, you can easily get yourself in a bad situation quickly. For those used to playing office politics, being a "yes man" or (better yet) having a "yes man", this will be a big shift.

As a pilot, it's essential to be able to fess up when you make a mistake or get in over your head. Trying to cover it or hide it can lead to major problems (e.g. the Pinnacle CRJ crew that was goofing off and had a dual engine failure...and didn't tell ATC for several minutes). Decisions that are made to preserve ego are rarely the safest.

It's also essential to be able to make a decision that will be unpopular and make people angry. It could be disagreeing with the Captain, writing up a maintenance problem at an inconvenient place, deciding to divert instead of going below minimum fuel, etc. The most unsafe pilot I ever flew with was a great person and was very easy to get along with. However as a captain, he just could not make a decision that would inconvenience the passengers. I had to step in multiple times and say no. If I hadn't, he would have flown across the Sahara on one generator, continued a takeoff with a "No-Takeoff" red warning message, landed on an unlit runway at night in a corporate jet, all just to keep the owners happy.

There will be times where you have a make a decision that will make people angry and might even get you in trouble. Having the courage to do the right thing is very difficult sometimes, but is extremely important for a pilot. The "stick and rudder" skills are the easy part.