#1 skill programmers are paid for is converting requirements (wants, ideas) from human to deterministic reproducable algorithms.
I think it's a really underrated / underinvested skill in the industry (from my experience) with a lot of complexity. For example, there's so many levels of listening. It's one thing to understand what someone is saying but yet another to pick up on meta messages (facial expression / body language) that signal true thoughts / feelings.
I whould say “understanding” part of communication crucial for programmer.
But always together with “converting what is understood in formalized logic”