In my opinion, the midheaven is that which you can't hide and is out there glaring at the world. Like the ascendant is the mask that you show the world, the MC is the part of you that comes out no matter what. The MC is your status besides all the career stuff. Most people go on and on about it being all about your career life. What about people who can't work? It's like my MC is 2* Sagittarius and no matter how hard I try, I can't stop myself from shooting my mouth off and slinging my arrows of truth [what I consider truth] out there. I have a nephew with Scorpio Rising and Leo on his MC. He is very young, but oh wow he looks like a Leo and he is very much like a Leo. So, in my opinion, I do think it is why people see you as a Leo.

I have an Aquarius midheaven...people in general see me as "weird" and "intellectual" and it's beyond my control. People at work tend to come to me with software/tech-related questions...part of that has to do with my job but they've extended it into something further by their perception.