In meetings, he’d steal ideas midair. If Ethan continued on a subject, saying, “I was thinking we could—” Brad would interrupt, “Exactly! That’s what I’ve been telling you…” Then he’d repeat Ethan’s idea louder, with “strategic” inserted three times. The room would nod. Ethan would grit his teeth and smile.
Everyone in the analytics team knew the truth. Brad was a human mirror. He reflected whatever brilliance stood closest to him. But nobody challenged him. In corporate food chains, charisma beat competence nine times out of ten. The team had a nickname for him: Copy-Paste Collins.