[grammaton]

I think you're missing a couple of points here. First and foremost, he wouldn't mind being asked "petty questions pertaining to his ability to do the job," but by and large, he is NOT being asked those questions - that's kind of the entire point of his article. Second of all, it's not that he "tolerates" C level execs, he's just making the observation that they seem to conduct better interviews because, when it comes to the value of other people's time, they "get" it.