Ha! Good question. I wrote this comment with out much thought really. He CAN be... maybe "stern" is a better word? He's generally totally professional, nice and friendly, but he doesn't let people push him around, and he pushes back when he needs to. He's "well rounded", how's that?

Good lord I sound like a ridiculous fan boy.

Ah, OK. It's been a few years since I've worked in the sort of place where anybody would need to be "stern" to anyone, but I can remember it! thanks for the clarification.

I imagine it's just a phrasing thing, he probably means someone that sticks up for themselves. I've seen a lot of very effective engineers get bogged down in bad work because they wouldn't push back on ideas/projects that were obviously not great ideas.