_Surplus Spirit._--There are now and then men of so much virility of body and spirit that they are unable to expend enough of it on the ordinary day's affairs--and the surplus often gets them into trouble. A good leader tries to accommodate them with enough hard work and play to keep them comfortably steady, while the poor leader, blind to human nature, punishes their derelictions without effort at remedy, and gives them a reputation for deviltry, and even for worthlessness. Yet these very men were capable of tremendous exertions for good had they been properly directed. War always astonishes the community by bringing such cases of reputed worthlessness to the fore in often brilliant performance. These men found in the demands of war enough to engage all their surplus energies; and because of this very store of surplus energy they were able to outdo their fellows. Giving men work to "keep them out of trouble" is as wise a saying as it is homely--and is well worth remembering when you find some man looking for trouble. It is a well known trick in the army to call up some wild lad who is always getting into mischief, arouse his pride by finding some element of his personality to praise and rely on, and then put him in charge of a squad of men or even appoint him a corporal. Nine times out of ten he will react to this responsibility by giving unusual service. The difficulty is to find opportunity so to promote a seemingly bad man as not to establish an unfortunate standard of performance for winning promotion. Such are the interesting things in leadership. _Self-Respect Essential._--The leader has to guard his own self-respect and that of his men. Self-respect is absolutely essential to having self-confidence, and self-confidence is absolutely essential for either leader or man to play his part successfully. If work is to progress efficiently each will be constantly called upon to make decisions as to what is best to be done, and to act upon them definitely. Each must therefore have enough self-confidence to do this without running to someone to ask what to do in an effort "to pass the buck" of responsibility.