The thing I find sad is that there are people who realized that they are a mismatch for their position, not always because it is too high but sometimes because

The thing I find sad is that there are people who realized that they are a mismatch for their position, not always because it is too high but sometimes because it is on the wrong track. Making the change is usually very difficult, as companies do not see "demotion by the demoted" as something normal. A case I witnessed was a VP of Engineering who realized (after many years at that position, performing well) that he is more an engineer than a manager. His results were good but he did not like the work he was doing because his true talents were under-utilized. He wanted to move to a position where he would have a more "technical" role, on the official "technical ladder" but it was very difficult for him to make his point. He liked the company very much though (in Europe). I did not know what to really tell him at the time, I wish I had some good arguments for him to help his case. One of the key things is that he did not want to change the company - he loved it, he loved what they did; he just took the wrong turn at some point.