Then why are these people being promoted? I have very rarely seen a manager or c-level exec terminated or demoted even though it's plain to everyone their incompetant. These people usually get where they are because they are good at one thing and not everything they need to be good at. They should be promoted because they have worked there way up through various roles and responsabilities, including those mentioned above and show excellent competance. So no, they don't get my sympathy.