Gold from Sally Blount. Dean at Kellogg School of Management
Being an effective leader requires a high degree of self-awareness and self-actualization.
Effective, seasoned leaders know that their interactions are about the people with whom they are interacting and as a result, they need to stay vigilant and self-aware.
They monitor their self-expression, learning how to turn up and down their personalities to the extent that it is helpful to the group and the tenor in the room.
A strong leader can bring a 500-person audience alive with a heartfelt personal story that inspires customer responsiveness or hard work, and they can fade into the background in a 12-person conference room as others engage in problem-solving.
The key is that their personality becomes a tool to be used with precision, not a pressing need that must get expression.
The truer you become in being you, the less you and your personality need to enter the room.