Can a good but unremarkable PhD student become an accomplished professor? Given that PhD students and professors often need to use different skill sets to accomplish their jobs, are there instances of people who had good but unremarkable careers as a PhD student, but much more success as a professor? If this describes you, can you describe why this might have been the case? I personally feel that my technical skills are comparatively average to my peers, but my writing, conceptualization and framing skills are above average. My own PhD journey thus far is fine, but not remarkable. Assuming I manage to find a faculty position, do you think I might be able to have a more accomplished career than when I was a student? How might I do this?
Yes of course.

Some PhD’s are really good at research, or they just prefer research.

Others however, like to pass on knowledge and when a student « gets » something they are pleased for them.

So being able to explain concepts to others and remembering or understanding why you found certain concepts difficult and using that experience to help other students can be very rewarding.

The downside is it comes with things like grading... But having clear marking schemes helps with that, both when you mark and when students want feedback.