My father always told me to work like you are ugly.

He said no one is coming to save you. You aren't a trust fund brat. Something to the effect of he went from 0 education to an advanced degree in STEMs in a foreign country.
I had to remind him that had it not been for his beautiful sisters marrying for money he would not have stayed in school in Amoud (which was not free in the 50s). Discipline and work ethic kept him on the right trajectory while many Somalis studying in Soviet Russia failed because they fell for vices. And being handsome, well-read, highly educated and multi-lingual set him up to land his first job. I would say it's a coalescing of multiple factors.
Personality is one of them. He's an ISTJ apparently. Those keeners are by the book, organized, timely, highly principled and logic-oriented. Though in his later years, he became less critical. One of his issues was a penchant for honesty and fairness so that might not rub off well with some. Tact is a skill and some of us have it more in spades than others. Though he's oddly charming and people generally like him. It's difficult to bifurcate that from appearance or solid communication skills.