Best advice in that article. Find the people who are clearly the thought leaders and ask them to mentor you.
I've read multiple accounts of successful people having essentially this story and it's really stuck with me:
I went into a meeting with my mentor.
During the meeting, a lot was said by different folks.
After the meeting, my mentor asked me: "What happened in the re?"
I proceeded to give him a rough outline of what was said.
They responded: "That's what was SAID. Here is what actually happened: Person A said they were ready but they are clearly not b/c $X. Person B said they had $Y but that's not true because we already know $Z".
END OF STORY
This kind of guidance is priceless because it saves you potentially years of trial and error trying to learn how to read between the lines.