Reflecting

I recently had an all day final onsite interview for an executive position. Leading up to this day, hiring manager was keeping me warm through a couple text messages. Interviews went well I believe, including the final with the hiring manager. Most of it was me asking the HM questions, and his responses taking on a “you’ll be leading this team” etc etc. At the end of the day we met up again, I asked a few more questions about the role, then gave HM my closing pitch. It appears it’s between me and one other candidate at this point. After that, HM says: “So I’ve got 1 more candidate to bring in next week to eliminate the what-if scenario. That next interview will give me perspective on your candidacy and his candidacy, so you’ll hear from me after that interview. We’re gonna have a tough decision to make. On one hand, the other has a ton of [redacted] kind of experience, yet is missing the [redacted] kind of experience you have. You’re in the running, man. Y’know, my external advisor reviewed the resumes and yours was far and above all the others. And y’know, others have other opinions. Whether you’re offered the role or not, when you get back on the plane tomorrow, you should be 100% content that you left it all on the table. You have done yourself a great service with how you’ve shown up today, how you’ve conducted yourself in interviews, and in our earlier conversations. You’re an impressive cat.” I reaffirmed my interest in the position, thanked HM and his team for the time, and interview ended and I walked myself out. Later that night I sent concise TY emails and mentioned to HM. Did not get a reply from HM but don’t think that’s strange given the circumstances. HM did look at my LinkedIn profile in between our conversations that day. How would you interpret all this? On one hand, HM has the best poker face I’ve ever seen. All interactions so far have been very positive. On the other hand, it seemed like a quick wrap up. It is a public role so the process has differed from most private industry interviewing I’ve done. I left feeling like it’s a true 50/50 shot of getting it. What do you think about this?