[EricH]

I kind of "know" when someone's a leader; sometimes they might not be aware of it themselves. It's just something you acquire after a long time in/around leadership.

In deciding whether I particularly want someone as a leader, I look at the following, in no particular order:

Maturity. I don't care if you're the greatest leader in the world if you act like a 5-year-old all the time.

Integrity. I don't want someone who is going to not follow through on commitments (one aspect of integrity--I can go further into it if requested).

Trust. This one takes a while to develop, and it's something that I have to have in relation to the leader. Quite simply, do I trust them?

Commitment. Are they committed to the team? If there is something that will interfere with serious commitment to the team, that is something that you will need to take into consideration.

Relationship. Can you work with the potential co-captain well?

Communicator. If they can communicate well, that's a definite plus.

Experience (even if minimal). If you have some time in an organization, it's better than zero time. My Aero Design team had a time requirement for all officers of one semester on the team (Operations Officer, the team captain, is two semesters). That probably won't be an issue for you if you've done fall work as a team.

I would also encourage you to ask Mrs. T. what she and the other mentors look for when selecting a captain. Maybe they can give you some idea of who they had on their list before picking this year. Then you can figure out what their candidates have in common.