You're talking about people (ceos like O'Neill) with massive egos and tremendous corporate powers who are used to dictating to people and having their decisions followed unquestioningly. Then they go outside their sphere of expertise and expect their success to continue.
O'Neill apparently was a very effective ceo, and that's where he should have stayed. Frankly his comments about the world of international politics and government reveal a person exceptionally ignorant of those matters. Most conservative pundits didn't like him from the start and felt he would be a disaster...and they were so right!