CEOs aren't the genius level visionary you're making them out to be. They're a legal requirement of having a corporation. Doubly so if the company is publicly traded and has a Board of Directors. Fact is, without a CEO at the helm, there are tons of SVPs and VPs at most companies that know exactly the strategy to increase sales or decrease costs (the root of a CEO's responsibility). So while executive leadership is important, it's not thousands of times more important than any given worker at the company. Not by a long shot.