I remember reading about an actual observational study on this -- I think on HBR -- and the conclusion was basically that managers that are technically skilled have much happier employees on average.

Another finding from the same study was that the statements "I feel like my manager can do my job" and "I am not looking for new work" were strongly correlated. (This sounds like the same thing but isn't.)

In other words, you have to be one he'll of a people person to make up for cards stacked against you.