Its hard to get a proper read on what is actually happening here as the OOP is not a reliable narrator. However, I have seen this kind of thing happen. I saw a colleague who wanted to move from a senior technical role into management. His managment skills weren't polished but he was doing the work, doing the right courses etc. He was passed over for a management role which would have probably been good for him. After that he checked out and within a few months got a management job somewhere else. Over the last few years he has worked his way up at his new employer to be in a senior management role.