Talk about unintended consequences. All the grousing about excessive management compensation and absurdly generous perks has clearly created CEO envy in office suites across the country. And, apparently, across the world. That’s at least one explanation for the sell-out crowd at last week’s World Business Forum in New York.

Four thousand management groupies packed Radio City Music Hall for two days to hear the likes of Jack Welch, Larry Bossidy, and President Clinton talk about what it takes to succeed in business. Other speakers included Colin Powell speaking on security, Wynton Marsalis on innovation, and Rudy Giuliani on leadership.

Most of the crowd (85% of those who attended) paid $2,000 a ticket to hear these notable speakers. Carlos Rohm is the American head of the host company, HSM, which is headquartered in Argentina. The obvious question is: Why didn’t all those CEO-wannabes simply speed over to Barnes & Noble, and for about $200, pick up all the management books written by these corporate gurus?

They wanted to press the flesh, of course, hoping some of the guru grease will rub off. Who knows what a little one-on-one time with Rudy Giuliani might produce? What’s an encounter of the corporate kind with Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell worth? Inspiration doesn’t come cheap, but it is on stage, and for an extra $75, available in more intimate break-out sessions and luncheons.

Such access can be potent. One woman told Mr. Bossidy, former head of Allied Signal, that she had carried his book around with her for six months, reading little bits of it now and then for inspiration, and she thanked him for changing her life. She had, that is, consumed a great deal of the Kool-Aid.

HSM, a 20-year-old company, has tapped into a well of admiration for the very successful, and has built a sizable business hosting gatherings such as the one at Radio City. It offers programs in Europe and South America as well as across America.

According to Mr. Rohm, the crowd at Radio City (and 1,000 more people who attended via satellite) came from 37 different countries and fell into two demographic groups. There were very senior people from small and mid-size companies with 50 to 500 employees, and also unit heads and midlevel employees from Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Rohm describes all of these folks as hoping to develop their “soft skills.” They want to improve their corporate cultures, leadership, and performance.

The audience learned some interesting nuggets. Kenichi Ohmae, for instance, who is described in HSM’s brochure as “Mr. Strategy” and who has written more than 100 books, said that China is overproducing any number of products. He claims that China will soon face a glut of manufactured goods, the inevitable consequence of its centrally planned economy. That was new news to us.

Mr. Bossidy told the audience that he didn’t believe in matrix reporting and that a CEO shouldn’t have many more than 10 to 12 people reporting to him. He also said he didn’t think that CEOs who are successful, or who have met various targets, are overpaid. That’s something you don’t hear every day.

HSM has been hosting such gatherings for two decades, but only ventured into America in 2003. It is owned by a newspaper in Argentina and by several American private equity firms, and judging by the ramping up of its schedule, has been quite a success. One assumes, then, that attendees find the programs useful, and even profitable.

Mr. Rohm assures us that is the case, and points to the experience of the head of Modell’s Sporting Goods as a concrete example. After attending an intensive two-day program with Jack Welch, former head of GE, Mr. Modell reportedly fired several members of his middle management team, hired a new chief executive. and employed some techniques advocated by Mr. Welch. Subsequently, the growth rate of the company doubled, which surely justified his time and money spent with HSM. Mr. Modell could not be reached for comment.

Who is the competition for these programs? Mr. Rohm supposes that they compete with the executive management programs at the nation’s business schools. According to a spokesman for Stanford’s business school, the programs it offers target the same group: high-level executives, and they too discuss strategy and how to change corporate cultures. In other words, the material is not too different, but the programs at the business schools offer great networking opportunities because they run for several weeks. But they don’t offer the star power of the HSM program.

Enthusiasm for business success is not limited to these events. Applications for Stanford’s courses are up, as are applications to business schools in general, according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council. That organization reports a “surge” in business school applications in 2006, with two-thirds of the responding organizations reporting a gain, compared with 21% the year earlier. There was also a steep gain in applications for executive MBA programs. GMAC’s head, David Wilson is quoted as saying, “There is a brilliant bloom on the MBA rose.”

Still, though an MBA may advance a career, it doesn’t have the punch of having Jack Welch tell you how to run your company. Though you might think Mr. Welch somewhat overexposed these days, Mr. Rohm says he always attracts interest because he doesn’t pull punches and speaks, yes, from the gut.

All of this is slightly surprising given the prodigious pounding the corporate community has taken by the press, much of it warranted. Accounting and governance scandals keep swirling about, fostering corrective but often counterproductive legislation. Still, the highly publicized rewards of running a company, including multimillion dollar pay packages, private jets and lavish lifestyle get a lot of folks pretty excited. Though many today may resent the success of the very successful, it appears that those hoping to follow in their footsteps at least can fill Radio City Music Hall.