The Importance of 2 Tracks For Promotion

A colleague at a client told me, when they started with the organisation, that their manager said to them:
“I’m not really a people person.”
“I probably won’t remember your name.”
“I would much rather be writing reports at my desk.”
What should that person be doing? They should not be managing people, and if they are good at writing reports, they should be well paid for it.