because so much of our power to influence things comes from our ability to interact with people:

"how to read a person like a book" http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Person-Like-Book/dp/B000SABRO...

and the classic dale carnegie "how to win friends and influence people" http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/14...

His recommendations felt like a nice summary[1] of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People[2], mentioned by pg on Why Smart People Have Bad Ideas[3]

[1] http://www.amazon.com/review/R1IGJOWWDLP3RS/ref=cm_cr_dp_per...

[2] http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/14...

[3] http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html#f8n

If there's one book you read in getting over this, I recommend this:

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/14...

It's definitely worked for me in helping tackle my problems problems with social interactions.

Self-obsessed douchebag != extrovert

Socially unskilled != introvert

This may help: http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/14...

The author of those templates should read this...

http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/14...

The Alchemist http://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Fable-About-Following-Dream/...

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry...

How to win friends an Influence people http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/14...

I would be wary of self improvement programs that charge money. I'm not sure what exactly you've looked into, but there's a lot of information out there for free or cheap.

I've spent a decent amount of time reading self-improvement books/blogs, and for me the stuff that made the most impact were things that were tailored to the problems I was having at the time.

Here's an overview of what I've read over the years that have helped me to some extent:

I Can Do Anything if I Only Knew What it Was: http://www.amazon.com/Could-Anything-Only-Knew-What/dp/04405...

Paul Graham's Essays: http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html

How to Win Friends and Influence People: http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/14...

Four Hour Work Week: http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/d...

Randy Pausch, Time Management: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTugjssqOT0

GTD: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Produc...

Steve Pavlina: http://www.stevepavlina.com/

7 Habits of Highly Effective People (reading this now): http://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People/dp/0671...

So I would say "it depends" on what you want out of life and where you are now. Self improvement is a life-long task and you will need advice that changes as you progress.