Traits of mediocrity

Inspired by Carl Pei's chat with Kunal Shah but I'm adding my own pointers.

Freshers:

• No eagerness
• Requires followup
• Whining (or lack of agency)
• Inability to get into the details
• Doesnt know how to impress manager
• Doesn't have corporate common sense
• Lack of obsession when it comes to anything
• They speak without filters. They blabber often
• Doesn't know how to work hard and put in the hours
• Doesn't actively maintain a todolist even after being told to do so

Mid Level:
(Everything in Fresher plus the below)

• They try to be 5 star managers
• Can't anticipate reactions of others
• They enter meetings without a plan
• Doesn't think of second order effects
• More fluff than substance when talking
• Can't express their thoughts coherently
• Wants to come across as "smart" rather "correct" in a meeting
• They struggle to get their hands dirty and do the work themselves
• Their subordinates complain that they don't feel connected to their manager
• Their subordinates don't tend to highlight that they've learnt a lot from their manager
• When giving work to someone, doesn't lead by example (showing how to do something really well first before expecting subordinates to do it). Instead just assigns work and hopes it will be done well

Execs:
(Everything in Fresher and Mid Level plus the below)

• Poor judgement
• They aren't self-aware of their weak areas
• They have never written a long and elaborate doc
• They don't explain the "why" to their subordinates
• Can't quickly zone into the right solution to a problem
• They don't understand how motivations and incentives work
• Can't successfully instill a sense a urgency in their subordinates
• Has ego when talking to a junior that knows more than them at a certain topic
• Can't create clarity in a room, neither for themselves nor for others in the room
• They haven't created structures and processes around them to make their own lives easier
• When they highlight problems to the management, they don't also offer (atleast rough) solutions
• They don't know how to go deep into at least some areas. Superfluous understanding of everything
• They do busy work / create busy work for others, but none of it really translates into meaningful business impact
• Only executes directions from management, doesn't proactively identify problems, define solutions and implement these solutions on their own