Some stay cool, and those are usually the ones who had previous large-organization management experience at some point in their prior lives (white-collar, military). From my observation ex-cop pilots are the worst as CPs if they've never had previous management experience... everybody they deal with is a perp/suspect.

In cockpit culture, we communicate directly and unequivocally, often abruptly... but that's not how you deal with problem children in HR-land.

Otherwise, as others pointed out, it's a big jump from PIC of 2-5 crew to being in charge of hundreds of people.

Most managers get to deal with some good and some bad, although management by definition spends 80% of it's time on problems and problem kids... good employees don't need as much intervention. In the case of airline chief pilots, you really never deal with good employees because you don't see them, so you end up like a cop: your "coworkers" are the scumbags, and that colors your perspective over time.

As was mentioned, power does tend to corrupt in some cases.

Also this is common... some airlines don't give CP's the authority to solve scheduling problems (ie pull folks off trips for personal conflicts like your own wedding). In that case the CP ends up looking like the bad guy when his hands are tied.