This cuts both ways. Are there /really/ so few 'someone with skill' people that can run your company, often into the ground? Or it's more of an incestuous network of very connected people that sign fat checks to each other, because shareholders are divided and remote, so nobody is paying close attention anyways?
Surely alot of the latter. But it's not a matter of being few, it's also a matter of who has the support of the board / shareholders / owners to actually steer the company.
Even if you're the best for the job, if you don't have the backing of the board you won't get anything drastic done.
Whether those who have the support of the board are really the best ones for the job, that's another question...
From my experience the additional aspect is also that shareholders and/or the management board often have unrealistic expectations on what the company is capable of, and are unhappy when facing reality.
So such a parachute can also be useful to force the company to work through tough decisions, because firing the person who insists on them will not be cheap either.
