I worked with a guy for a year whom I liked personally, but just seemed to be ineffective in his job.
His co-workers didn't respect him.
They mocked him behind his back.
Some called him "incompetent."
Not surprisingly, he left his job at the end of the year.
I saw him a few weeks ago.
He's in a new role now. He's thrilled.
I talked to a few of his co-workers. He's perceived as a rock star.
We're so quick to judge an individual by performance within one environment, but we don't always take the larger view.
It may not be the best example (due to attitude problems), but look at Randy Moss.
He goes to Oakland and it's a disaster. People say he doesn't have a work ethic. He's a trouble maker.
He gets traded to New England and he breaks all types of records.
Right player, wrong system.
Wrong player, right system.
Context matters.
Next time, I may be less quick to judge about an individual person and ask myself, "is he just a good player who's on the wrong team?"