Instructional designers often find themselves in leadership roles, even if they don't have any formal authority in projects or situations they have an opportunity to truly be effective leaders. But there are some fallacies about leadership. First that people are "Born Natural Leaders" and second that Charisma has something to do with leadership. Effective leadership mostly has to do with: Providing a compelling vision, setting and communicating clear goals, and developing a healthy working culture. When you put it that way instructional designers sound like they can be great leaders. There are however a few traits that we can work on to boost our success. Luckily they aren't traits you need to be born with. There was a great video produced by The Blue Water Partnership that outlines the seven traits that show up most often in leadership research. 1. enthusiasm 2. fairness 3. toughness 4. humility 5. warmth 6. integrity 7. confidence