Many years ago, a close friend of mine took part in a competitive examination for a position in a municipal police department. He was…

Alessandro Brunetti

CEO & Founder @ iQrypto · Hardware QRNGs for the post-quantum era · EU Projects @ UMONS

Many years ago, a close friend of mine took part in a competitive examination for a position in a municipal police department. He was exceptionally well prepared. He had already worked as a police officer for several years and had graduated in Economics with excellent results. During the examination, a senior official on the panel told him in Neapolitan dialect: “You can speak as much as you want, but you will still come second.” It was not a criticism of his performance. Quite the opposite. The official was acknowledging that my friend was performing extremely well and was probably the strongest candidate. The message was clear: no matter how well he performed, he would not be allowed to finish first. The outcome had already been decided. At the time, I thought this kind of situation was mainly an Italian habit. The more I travel and experience different environments, however, the more I realise that power, personal relationships and informal networks influence opportunities almost everywhere, sometimes openly, sometimes in far less visible ways. My friend, however, did not allow that experience to determine his future. He continued to study, work and pursue his ambition with determination. Eventually, he succeeded and became a Lieutenant. His motto has always been: “Reach the objective.” His story reminds me that merit is not always rewarded immediately, and the best person is not always given the space they deserve. We cannot always control decisions made behind closed doors, but we can refuse to let those decisions define the limits of our future. Determination does not make every system fair but it can make sure that an unfair system does not have the final word. #Determination #Perseverance #Merit #Leadership #Integrity #Resilience

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