Exactly. Moreover, the real underlying issue here is that many people think they could do the CEO job. What's so special about ordering around flunkies all day?

Exactly. Moreover, the real underlying issue here is that many people think they could do the CEO job. What's so special about ordering around flunkies all day? They don't fully appreciate the idea that a CEO of a 1000 person business is the signal integrator and nervous system, the guy whose speed of critical internal and exernal decision-making sets the clock of the whole organization. As CEO, you have dozens of smart managers approaching you constantly for rapid decisions/conflict resolution on the most intractable internal problems, the ones they couldn't solve, necessitating constant context switching. Each inquiry means parachuting in to a highly technical/complex area and instantly solving or adding value for the line manager, despite the fact that he's a smart guy who's been working on the problem for weeks. And as you gate the clock of the organization, you need to be available much more than forty hours per week. Most people understand that they suck at pro sports, but they don't understand that they'd suck as CEOs. If I had my druthers everyone would have to start a business as CEO to "graduate". Most would fail horribly, just as most kids fail differential equations. But then they'd know they can't handle the CEO position, just like they know they can't do advanced math or steal second base. And that would drain a lot of the energy out of the idea that CEOs are overpaid.