He couldn't control whether you're doing your work properly, but he can control that you "pretend* to be controlled by him.

It's never about making you a better worker, it's just about the illusion of control.

Think about it, when was the last time you had an interaction with your superior that actually had anything to do with your actual job? It's all just a huge charade.

Yeah, but there will also come a tone when the technical lead is being managed by someone with less technical experience than them.

At that point, it is less about telling them what to do and more about making sure they stay productive on tasks and projects that are important to the company.

The last part is important because a lot of the work management does at that level is supposed to be catching all the shit from other departments and setting goals, which does not look like technical work.