Thank goodness for people like this person - I would not be surprised if many firms would do as well, if not better and with improved internal culture, if promo

Thank goodness for people like this person - I would not be surprised if many firms would do as well, if not better and with improved internal culture, if promotion was done simply by random selection of candidates in the different role categories. The amount of randomness for a new candidate is higher when going external than it is for promoting from a pool of people you know, so good on you for using this path.