"Nasty" or "Assertive"?

I was recently reminded of a time when I communicated clearly and assertively with a consultant, after he had ignored my earlier, less direct attempts at conveying the point. He was billing the project for work that had already been transferred to another consultant (and he knew about it and was told to stop doubling up efforts, but had continued to "work with" the other consultant to bill more hours by staying unnecessarily involved). In response, he called to tattle to my boss, saying that I'd been "nasty" to him. Here's the part where I'd love to say that my boss told him that I was in charge and was doing what was best for the project. But no, that didn't happen. Instead, within earshot of the team I was supervising at the time (I was not in the office), he soothed the whiny consultant, apologized for my "nastiness" and assured him he didn't have to listen to me, since I wasn't really in charge. My team told me what had happened when I got back to the office. I was so embarrassed and that was the day I literally, and figuratively, took my pictures and personal stuff home and began to hatch a plan to move forward and away. My boss did close the loop by scolding me for being "nasty" to the consultant, and which time I shared how he'd been intentionally overbilling the project and I was managing the budget and team as required. I set boundaries and did my job, but my heart wasn't really in it anymore. It took another year for me to find a graceful path forward, and I look back with many positive memories of lessons learned. Long term it just wasn't the place for me though, and I found a better path because of my willingness to look for new possibilities. I wish the same for all of you. Learn as much as you can where you are, and move along when you know in your gut the time is right. And take time to do it on your own terms. There are always new options out there, oftentimes greater and more exciting that we can even imagine.