There was once a man of influence.
He wasn’t a bad man, I think possibly he was a frustrated man.
He had risen from a low position to one of importance, the third highest in the organization. Perhaps he wasn’t quite accepted by his peers because of his former positions, hence the frustration.
I said he wasn’t a bad man, but he made bad decisions. There was nothing I could do about this, except to make sure I never worked directly for him. I had little influence, he never saw me as an equal, so he never sought my advice. He had a great impact on how the organization operated, and he made hiring decisions that would have an impact for decades.
All I could do was to outlast him, and later, try to undo the harm that was done.
And that’s what happened. He retired, and I became a union leader in order to put in place reforms where I could. And later I used that influence to rise in the organization, in order to have even more influence.
He wasn’t a bad man. He became an inspiration to me. I just had to outlast him.
And the funny thing is, that it is possible that someone else just had to outlast me!! Hah!