Every engineer has probably thought at some point in their career what's the point of the manager? Managers are basically extensions and the eyes and ears of upper management which doesn't scale very well... they are there to communicate the vision and pass the word, ensure work is delivered consistently, employees are happy or have just about enough incentive to stay...some may go above and beyond into coaching their reports if they care but sinply it's all about making sure the team doesn't fuck up and looks good to the boss...