That's very correct, but only in ideal world, isolated from the mess of the real world. We are not in ideal world. So what makes you a senior person is also to be aware that you are not operating in an idealized context and how your actions and thoughts relate to that context.

When a powerful person is lecturing about public key and forgot to address private key, and if you thoughtfully ask "but sir what about private key?", you might be shown the door. It actually happens.