I think managers should be able to have meaningful discussions with people one, two and even three levels below them. If they're out of touch with the layfolk

I think managers should be able to have meaningful discussions with people one, two and even three levels below them. If they're out of touch with the layfolk or can't detect when the people reporting to them are too optimistic/pessimistic, it'll cause issues down the road. Ol' musky boi has been known to talk to low level engineers and ignore in betweens to understand issues better Nvidia boss has been known to take reports from people way lower in the chain. Both have been known to do a decent job in directing these large orgs directions faster than most.