If you want to know what makes an exceptional leader, just take the three principles of the Boy Scout honor society known as the Order of the Arrow (which I was recently inducted into). Simply put, they are cheerfulness, service, and brotherhood. All three of these traits help define a good leader.

First up, cheerfulness. No one likes a leader who is pessimistic and tries to evade his duties. A good leader has to keep a smile on his face and do his duty to guide the other people and help out when he has to, even when the task ahead seems daunting. During the Ordeal, which is the ordeal you have to go through before you can get inducted, you have to spend hours in arduous labor and eat tiny amounts of food. This is to test your cheerfulness. All of us Scouts in the Ordeal were tired and hungry when we were working, but we all tried our best to keep a smile on our face and continue.

Service is the second important trait to have in a leader. In other words, will he put aside his personal interests for the sake of other people? If he or she is capable of doing so, that person will make a fine leader. For example, imagine that you’re at a campout. It’s nighttime, it’s about to rain, you could go ahead and sleep cozily in your tent. Then, you notice some people struggling to properly set up their tent. Will you go and assist them, and potentially get a little wet, or leave them to fend for themselves? The choice is yours.

Lastly, there’s brotherhood. A leader must remain friendly to his peers, and guide, help, and work along with them. During the Ordeal, most of us worked together at some point to accomplish some task, be it pulling out a root or cutting down a tree in the middle of the path. If someone needed assistance, we went right there to help them. Once we had completed the task, we high-fived each other for a job well done.

There are numerous other things that help define a leader, though I feel that these are some of the most important. Remember to be active in what ever job or task you’re in, and keep a smile on your face. After all, it’s possible that in the future, you may be the person that everyone relies on to get everything completed.