My ex was the same way, OP. He was a professor in NYC before entering the private sector workforce and was shocked that people would not pay him $100k just to read articles and say intelligent things. When he tried to get an actual assignment done, he'd freak out and stay until midnight, then stress about it for days. His jobs would give him the benefit of the doubt at first, but it typically took 6 months for them to get rid of him. Of course he was convinced his coworkers were crazy and/or threatened by his intelligence.
Sad, I just checked his LinkedIn and looks like he’s unemployed yet again after less than a year at a job in SF. I guess that's an improvement!