Justbelowcap, take a bow, that's the best submission on all of Pprune's pages. Thank you for putting into words the things that we knew, but could not express quite so eloquently as you.
May I add my 2 cents worth?
(1) By the time an SFO has made Captain, his/her flying skills are taken for granted. It's a dramatic increase in MANAGEMENT skills that are now of paramount importance. The only way to refine and hone one's management skills is through hands on management with no instructor, captain etc. to fall back upon.
(2) Total situational awareness is absolutely necessary - as an F/O I believed that I had good situational awareness, but was able to 'tunnel vision' in on making a perfect approach for my captain when required, releasing him to stay mentally aware of all of the other 'what ifs'. A captain does not enjoy the luxury of giving all of his/her attention to one single task, that's why F/Os fly much better than we do - good!
(3) SFOs and Command trainees only begin to really blossom when all of the management problems are dropped in their lap. Some of the techniques which I use with my Command trainees - (i) On the ground, head for the toilet with the newspaper until he/she has solved the problem, (ii) In flight, order my lunch and put up the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign, or (iii) Say to him/her - "Here, I'll do that flying stuff whilst you sort it out".
For my own first trip in command? - Much more scary and exhilerating than my first solo. Now, 26 years later, I'm only scared when I'm rostered to be F/O to another captain.