The Mac was Jef Raskin's baby, Steve tried to kill it multiple times because it inteferred with his pet project of Apple III and Lisa. Eventually with both project a proven failure in the market, he jumped ship to Raskin and took over the Mac project.

NeXT was a dismal failure. The product was too expensive for its market, it sold little in its market. They made NeXTStep, true, but due to a bit of Gassee's inability to market it properly, BeOS lost out despite how many internally wanted it instead.

All that said though, no, I don't think it's Steve's luck that's gotten him to where he is. His ability I believe is in leadership, vision, and strategy. Having seen him in action, I think his greatest asset is his ability to effect others. He makes them better, he knows what he wants immediately and has the strategic vision to see it through. His ability to get certain products right has propelled him higher and higher into upper management. Now that he's the CEO his vision only elevates and pushes more product out the door. The chicken and egg problem for others emulate though is: how do you get into a position of power, or, how do you push out people to push out the right product?

As for Marine boot camp and the subsequent combat tours, I can tell you without a doubt FMJ, nor any other movie, even come close.