[barrkel]

There's the raw talent, and then there's everything else: occupying powerful positions near the top of the hierarchy, the social network, the experience, the track record, the lessons learned from mistakes made, and so on.

There's only so much room at the top, and you need to spend time near the top to get everything else. Truth is, the everything else is a big part of the package.

[ryandrake]

It's really all about the room at the top. Every company is pyramid shaped, and not all of us can physically fit at the top of the pyramid. It's not about whether you can do the job, it's just that there's only a few slots up there, and a lot of us.

I truly believe I could do the job of my grand-boss 4 levels above me on the totem pole, and so could most of my peers. The reason I'm (or someone else is) not there comes down to things like timing, luck, who got where first, and just the reality that one person already being in that SVP position simply blocks everyone else from being there. I really think that a large number of leaf-node employees are massively under-employed compared to what they are capable of. I guess it's kind of a reverse-impostor syndrome.