By Andrew Wang, Opinion Editor | City of La Follette, Howe County

As most of us know, Badger Boys State is a camp based around leadership where students from all over the state of Wisconsin have the opportunity to come to Ripon’s campus and learn how to lead.

Last night, when I was listening to La Follette’s city level speeches, a question crossed my mind: How do we distinguish average leaders from the leaders among leaders?

It is important to recognize that the responsibility tied with any leadership position holds much more weight than the title that comes with it. For example, on the surface, the president may appear to just attend meetings and eat good meals, but his or her job entails much more than that.

They need to meet with government officials, negotiate with other nations and run the military, just a few from a plethora of roles. This means that leaders among leaders should have a greater emphasis on “doing” which was what I observed last night — students who explained what specific roles they would take on versus students who simply stated their qualifications seemed to fit the leadership position better.

In addition to this “doing,” the best leaders also have a responsibility of thinking as they should always try to generate new ideas to bring themselves and everyone around them up. This trait is seen in many of the great leaders of all time including Steve Jobs, George Washington and Mahatma Gandhi.

This trait is also consistent with what I observed last night. Students who proposed unique changes and tasks to their speech embodied the leadership positions better than students who just talked about themselves and gave generic proposals.

Combining the two traits of “doing” and thinking helps to highlight the leaders among leaders, and, therefore, the true leaders at Badger Boys State. Ultimately, people are always looking for these traits even if they do it unconsciously. Thus, in the end, the most qualified citizens will be elected for offices.