My experience is that managers at the director level contribute very little to the actual progress of a project but do get a lot of the glory if it succeeds

As already described in several books, the structure of the company or area matters immensely for innovation [1] [2]. In this regard, a director can have great influence on this structure by knowing which buttons to push.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma

[2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39863447-loonshots