Let me ask this - do you think Captains are no longer needed in the military? What do they do that Majors, Colonels, and Generals can't? They execute. You see

Let me ask this - do you think Captains are no longer needed in the military? What do they do that Majors, Colonels, and Generals can't? They execute. You see, your directors, managing directors, VPs, presidents and C-suite people - they're all the high brass, i.e. the Majors, Colonels, and Generals. They're responsible for setting the vision and creating the strategic plan. They're not positioned for tactics and execution. The people positioned for tactics and execution are the people who work with production, i.e. the doers. In the military, it's the Lieutenants and Captains that are on the actual battlefield. They're middle management. They're the people that fully understand the vision and strategy and yet are empowered to control the means for getting it done. They're in the trenches with the troops, enduring their pain and hardships, and building camaraderie. They're LEADING. THAT is what a middle manager does, or at least should be doing. If your middle manager isn't doing that then they should be replaced. If your company's high brass doesn't understand what a middle manager should be doing then you need to leave - it's unlikely you'll succeed pushing that rock up the hill and you can apply your energies elsewhere with an organization that has a clue for how to run things.