I’m not sure I agree with your post, though this may be due to the types, ages, backgrounds, or other sociological factors about the teams you’ve worked with. I work at a large financial company within a team that is spread across multiple countries and timezones. We have each been software engineers and designers for at least 7 years, with the youngest person on the team being 30. We can’t stand when our product managers pop in on us while he is on vacation or makes comments as if we are unable to manage ourselves if he were to go on vacation because all that does is make the team feel like you don’t trust them. We are adults with years of experience. I think if someone is truly a good product manager and they have a good team, they should be able to disappear for a month without a single hitch.