Being optimistic, conquer-the-world types with expensive educations and privileged backgrounds, a few too many gaze into their fundaments and find the view oddly satisfying.

Mostly, such behaviour is kept in check. CEOs are smart enough to realise that real or not, an affable character helps them get ahead. And many are indeed that way inclined.

But when reporting season comes around – The lights! The stage! The sandwiches! – a few egos escape the clutches of their minders and make a run for it.

Mostly, no great harm is done.

Freelancer CEO and chairman Matt Barrie claimed that "it is inevitable that a global marketplace for services will emerge that will be of a similar size and scale as global marketplaces for products like eBay, Amazon and Alibaba".

Barrie may well be right but the subtle association of Amazon (2013 revenue: US$74.4bn) with Freelancer (2013 revenue: $18.8m) should raise a sceptical eye. Nothing, not even the success of Freelancer, is inevitable.

Whilst over-egged optimism is common (and sometimes a prerequisite), self-interest is everywhere and rarely welcome.

Sleep apnoea outfit SomnoMed recently conducted a share purchase plan that was five-times oversubscribed. Many shareholders were scaled back but director-related entities scored full allocations.

Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev, fresh from addressing fraud and malpractice in the bank's financial planning division, reassured investors the house price boom was nothing to worry about.

With an $8m pay packet largely dependent on the sale of mortgages, what else is he going to say?

RBA governor Glenn Steven, whose property market warnings are becoming increasingly shrill, is a less conflicted party and a more reliable source.

Reporting season gives every CEO a mouthpiece but that doesn't mean we should actually listen to them.

Alan Joyce – incredibly, still Qantas CEO – was another example, announcing another headline loss, this time a mere $2.8 billion.

Qantas management has never admitted any culpability in the airline's woes but shareholders need not worry because 'the worst is over'. Soothsaying like this last year cost shareholders $3.3 million.

Newcrest was equally cheeky, reporting lower production costs achieved not through mining but processing stockpiles, making the headline figures look better than they were.

Kudos to fund manager Kerr Nielson, though, for declining to participate in Platinum's staff performance scheme.

As the controlling shareholder, Nielson doesn't feel entitled to another crack at the big money, which is seriously letting his fellow CEOs down. Expect a cold shoulder at the next charity fundraiser, Kerr.

ASIC head honcho Greg Medcraft couldn't resist joining the fray, announcing changes to the corporate regulator's advisory panel. ASIC is apparently big on strengthening its appeal to whistleblowers.

But instead of getting real-life whistleblowers like Jeff Morris on the panel it apparently prefers current and former representatives of the likes of Commonwealth Bank and Macquarie Group.

You know, the companies that ASIC is currently investigating after the whistle was blown on them. At least new member Maile Carnegie, head of leading legal tax avoider Google Australia, can show Medcraft how to fire up Netscape Navigator.

Finally, there was former ASX chairman and chief government business advisor Maurice Newman jumping into his very own pool of absurdity.

Despite the CSIRO being 99.999 per cent certain humans are causing global warming, Maurice is worried that the earth is about to get very cold and we're all unprepared for it. If you see a luminary of corporate Australia wearing a beenie and ear muffs, that's him.

CEOs are pretty much like the rest of us – slightly odd and frequently succumbing to hubris and self-interest.

The key difference is that shareholders pay CEOs a lot of money to be in control of their investments, which means they need to be held to and aim for a higher standard than the rest of us.

If they're unable to put aside their ideological obsessions and human biases, to recognise how personal incentives can impact the quality of their decisions, or to rein in a galloping ego, then you really should question whether they're the right person for the job.

This reporting season reveals too many falling well short.

John Addis is editor of Intelligent Investor Share Advisor (AFSL 282288). To unlock Share Advisor's stock research and buy recommendations, take out a 15-day free membership.