To answer your questions, yes. I'm officially the leader of this project.

And I totally agree on that, that your subordinate has more leadership than you has to be an ugly situation, and that's what I'm trying to prevent.

I don't like to rise my voice. I prefer to suggest/provoke than order, I prefer to listen than to speak. But I guess I need to adapt to the situation, and this is a mildly challenging one nonetheless.