The reality is that CEOs are as good as their underlings, as they do all the real work and advise the CEO. For that matter, CEOs probably shouldn't be pulling 100x earning multiples compared to their 'normally' paid employees.
http://www.freibergs.com/resources/articles/leadership/semco...
Semler is a good example showing the opposite model works in difficult, high-innovation sectors in the worst economy possible with least management possible. Just has to be set up right. On other end, Toyota Production System, Publix, and Whole Foods strategies draw most innovation out of people lower in hierarchy with excellent results. Heavily-managed, hierarchical companies are among the least innovative normally just acquiring companies for it.
So, CEO's should be payed way, way less than they are right now with most senior managers just eliminated in favor of interacting, small teams or divisions. Much of the administrative stuff could similarly be outsourced to lean organizations focusing on that stuff.
If the organization was flat, then I would concede your point that affecting change without any seniority would be difficult and worth extra compensation. A true leader would need to be persuasive, knowledgeable and visionary.
What you describe as "leadership" is people doing their job.
LOL. If this were true it would be so much easier. But talented employees, who can easily get another job across the street, are more likely to laugh at you then do what you want if you talk to them like that.
So the main skill of a CEO is he can ask nicely?
Robert: Sorry I can't work late this week. It's my kid's birthday tomorrow.
And you'll be down a talented employee that's hard to replace.
Nice work!
Intelligent, talented people don't fall for that kind of stuff in my experience.
It's trivial really => You do nothing and get the fuck out of the way so Robert can do the job.
Intelligent & Talended people will do the work. They don't need (nor want) a bozo to dictate their every move ;)
"I have people skills! I am good with dealing with people can't you understand that! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE."
A good leader has a good answer to this question!
How much of this is due to genetics and prenatal environment and how much to education and life experiences? If the former dominates there isn't much we can do for now, but if it's the latter, there's gotta be a massive market for CEO-schools, both public and private.
Personally, I suspect that the limiting factor is social capital--most CEOs get hired because they're known among people connected to the board, and it's hard to get known. I'm not sure what the solution in this case is though, except maybe more residential desegregation by class and ethnicity.
[0]https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2837504
And two of the biggest tech CEOs (Sundar Pichai of Google & Satya Nadella of Microsoft) are immigrants.