Anecdotes aside, I used to think this way until I realized that being a leader is about a lot more than raw intelligence.
The best leaders (business, political or otherwise) have a unique mental resolve that is a lot stronger than the rest of us. They need to be able to thrive in chaos and stay motivated when everything is falling apart.
I arrived at this conclusion after years of looking at various CEOs and scoffing at how easily I could do the job--just make arbitrary decisions, take credit when they work and deflect when they don't, right?
It wasn't until I worked for a company that was teetering on failure that I realized there was more to it. While I would have felt completely overwhelmed, frustrated and defeated, this CEO somehow managed to stay positive and kept fighting for years until the business was in the clear.