A friend of mine got to a leadership position a few months ago, but he was telling me that he didn’t feel comfortable yet as a leader, and he wasn’t sure if his leadership was on the right track. After discussing the situation with him for a few minutes, it seemed clear where the problem was: his leadership style was not coherent with his personal style.

He told me that he tried to be very serious most of the time, and strict with the employees, because he wanted to portray an image of respect. The problem is that his personal style was very different. He was a friendly and accessible person, and that aspect of him eventually showed up in meetings, conversations or informal situations.

Based on this situation, there are some important ideas on leadership that must be considered:

- You must lead with your own personality: your leadership will be much better if you act naturally. Use your personality’s strengths to establish a leadership style, and work on you weaknesses to improve gradually.

- There is no “right” kind of leadership: a good leader doesn’t have to be funny, serious, friendly or anything else. The important characteristics are that you treat people with respect give good directions to your team. There are good leaders with every style, so understand that you can also have your own.

- Your team must be sure of who you are: showing different personalities in different situations will only confuse them and make it harder for them to know where you’re leading them to. A consistent personality will help build trust.

- You must feel comfortable with the impression you leave behind: even if you have good results as a leader, it is important that you feel good about your image with your team, peers and the market.

Every leader should have a trustworthy group of people that will give him sincere feedback. This group can be composed of colleagues, employees, friends of family. It is very easy for a growing leader to be absorbed by his own success and close himself to external opinion, and this is a dangerous situation. A leader that has the same capacity of teaching as of learning will have the most success.