So instead of working hard at your tasks, you worked hard at playing your manager. Seems like a “law of conservation of working hard” to me; you just needed the right kind of working hard.
No. Instead of working until my head exploded (and my manager telling me I wasn’t showing “a sense of urgency”) I focused on doing the right thing, and part of that is helping your manager succeed.
I'd once heard a piece of advice that was along the lines of "regardless of what it may say the duties are on paper your actual job is to make your manager look smart for having you on the team"
