“And, how does the rest of your team see Carl?” I asked.
Carson smiled. “I get it. You are right. The rest of the team sees him as a brown noser. They laugh behind his back. Maybe secretly jealous.”
“Jealous of what,” I prodded.
“Carl gets some preferential treatment. If we can only send one person to training, we pick Carl, because we know Carl will come back and share what he learned.”
“Does the team see Carl as successful?” I wanted to know.
“Yes, they do, but they think it was all about luck. Sometimes, I have to step in and mitigate some of the taunting.”
“So, having someone competent, inquisitive and curious on the team can create a problem for you?”
“Yes,” Carson nodded. “As long as people see success as luck, it can be made fun of. As the manager, I have to be vigilant and communicate success as a mastery and practice of fundamentals, enthusiasm and support of the team.”
“Of course, it doesn’t hurt to be a little lucky.”