Dare I say it: maybe many of these managers just don't have enough potential work outside meetings and are unable or unwilling to pivot into a different type of

Dare I say it: maybe many of these managers just don't have enough potential work outside meetings and are unable or unwilling to pivot into a different type of work, therefore insisting on pushing meetings on meetings on meetings to the point of micromanagement and will prefer going back to the office to appear busy once more, as you put it? I always figured this was an extremely obvious weakness we took for granted. Full-time managers who either won't or can't do anything but manage. Which eventually yields different problems (once the work is gone they become overhead, and if they manage too many teams they'll spread too thin to follow everything). Comparatively, hybrid leads still getting their own hands dirty seem much stronger and desirable.