Ask HN: How does your manager help you?

Managers at the company I work for feel very loosely coupled to the teams they manage. Typically, there are 30 minute one-on-ones once a month between a manager and one of their reports, and that's the extent of the relationship. It feels impossible that managers are the cause of a report's growth, yet this is often cited as one of the reasons people say they've become a manager.

How does your manager help you, or have you seen managers actually affect someone's personal/professional growth?