Your idea of an awesome Startup CEO is actually an HR Director

Correction: our idea of an awesome Startup CEO is far better than an HR director.

It's simply a subset of what a CEO needs to be. This is like saying "Your idea of an awesome human being is actually an Ameoba" because we both consume nutrients and move. That analogy also happens to elucidate my opinion of HR directors.

The qualities described here are probably the qualities you'd find in anyone at the Director/CXO level, not just HR.