I know it's definitely been a theme in every org I've worked in. Higher level manager is unable to attend all meetings, so spawns a new lower level manager. Rep

I know it's definitely been a theme in every org I've worked in. Higher level manager is unable to attend all meetings, so spawns a new lower level manager. Repeat. Then you're left with a hierarchy that is more about meeting attendance than actual enabling/planning/accountability, where having project leads would probably work just as well.