I have in the past categorised managers as "umbrellas" or "funnels" (and I guess there's an inbetween 'pipe').
The idea is that there is work the team should ideally not be doing (the 'shit'). That either needs to be rebuffed by the manager or handled another way (e.g. by stalling on it, doing it themselves, or making it someone else's problem).
Good managers keep the shit away from the team somehow. They're umbrellas.
Poor managers act as simple proxies. If anyone requests anything from them, they pass it on to someone on their team, without considering if they should or could block it (or handle it themselves). They're pipes.
Really bad managers act as intensifiers of the shit. e.g. by getting multiple people on the team duplicating effort on it. Or by being the sort of corporate busybody who goes and attracts more of it. Or by having slow, talky meetings about it which add time and friction. They're funnels.