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Lewis and Clark as Transformational Leaders

on an Analog Space Mission

Brian Shiro
Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA

September 17, 2010 (revised from 2008 version)

Introduction

Effective leadership is crucial to the success of long duration expeditions on Earth or in

space. Although leaders need both transactional and transformational leadership skills, as

mission duration increases transformational leadership qualities become more important

(Palinkas 2001; Kanas and Ritsher 2005). During the most dangerous expeditions,

transformational leaders stand the best chance of holding their teams together to accomplish the

mission goals and survive. Due to the relative paucity of long duration space missions, studying

terrestrial analogs such as submarine, polar, and other remote isolated settings can provide

valuable insight into what to expect on space expeditions (Lugg 2005; Shepanek 2005). Since

future long duration space expeditions will more closely resemble the sea voyages and

expeditions of the past rather than modern test flights and short duration space missions (Stuster

2005), this paper will consider the transformational leadership qualities of Lewis and Clark

(L&C) in leading their famous expedition to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean.

Thomas Jefferson established the spirit of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (LCE) by

naming the group of explorers the “Corps of Discovery.” An “Expedition Corps” sign hanging

in the Astronaut Office at the NASA Johnson Space Center pays homage to the LCE (Dick and

Cowing 2010). In many ways the LCE is a good analog for future human expeditions to other

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planets. It was 28 days months long, which is about the same as a Mars mission, and like future

Mars pioneers, the LCE members had to live off the land in order to survive. The group’s sense

of cooperation and perseverance, due in large part to the leadership of Lewis and Clark, is what

made the LCE a success. These same qualities are required on space missions.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leaders stimulate, inspire, and empower followers to achieve

extraordinary outcomes by respecting and responding to their individual needs. This results in

performance exceeding expectations and high levels of follower commitment (Bass and Riggio

2005). Whereas transactional leaders are more task-oriented, transformational leaders generally

exhibit great vision and charisma to energize and inspire followers to transcend expectations.

They stimulate followers to be innovative by questioning assumptions and creatively

approaching old situations in new ways (Bass and Avolio 1994).

Short term space flights rely more upon transactional leadership qualities, but long term

space missions require the more supportive role of transformational leaders (Stuster 1996;

Palinkas 2001). Evidence from isolated and confined environments analogous to long-duration

spaceflight indicates that effective leaders share a common core of personal and leadership traits

including optimism, a strong work ethic, respect of the crew, balance of democratic and

executive decision-making, and compassion for the well being of crew members (Nicholas and

Penwell 1995). Effective leaders solicit advice from their subordinates when appropriate,

delegate responsibility, and maintain a flexible leadership style. Johnson (1999) found that

effective leaders in extreme environments were ambitious, confident, respected, and trusted by

their subordinates. These leaders were sensitive to the personal needs of their subordinates, but

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in life-threatening situations they would not hesitate to take full control over controlling the

situation (Sandal et al. 2006). A number of polar expedition leaders such as Shackleton and

Amundsen have exhibited these characteristics (Stuster 1996; 2005).

The Lewis and Clark Expedition as a Space Analog

The 1803-1806 LCE shares many similarities to future human space missions to other

planets. Known as the Corps of Discovery, the 43-member crew members of the LCE were

exposed to high levels of uncertainty and stress on their 863-day expedition traversing 8,000

miles in risky, remote environments (Allner and Rygalov 2008). Astronauts must contend with

cramped quarters due to the confined space available on spacecraft, and similarly the LCE Corps

of Discovery were often forced to reside in the limited space onboard their boats or in winter

forts. With limited storage space for supplies, the LCE members had to discover and use in situ

resources, much like self-sustaining lunar or Martian bases in the future will have to do. Allner

and Rygalov (2008) found parallels in the leadership mistakes made over the course of the 28-

month LCE with those during analogous stages of 28-week Mir missions, which offers further

support of the similarity of the LCE to long duration spaceflight.

Stuster (2005) also considered the LCE a good approximation to the human planetary

exploration missions, but he was careful to point out that the analogy is not perfect. The LCE

crew size was likely larger than a likely space crew, and they were not confined to their vessels

for the entire period of the expedition. Furthermore, they met native people, flora, and fauna

during the journey, which are highly unlikely occurrences for future space explorers!

Figure 1 illustrates the similarities between the LCE and future expeditions to the Moon

or Mars. 1A and 1B show how mobile exploration teams must continuously deal with issues of

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navigation and geographic hazards. 1C is an artist’s depiction of Fort Mandan, where the LCE

was confined for 146 days during the winter of 1804-05. The bustle of activity associated with

the base is reminiscent of a future lunar outpost concept shown in 1D.

A. image courtesy Oregon Historical Society B. image courtesy NASA

C. image courtesy N. Dakota Historical Society D. image courtesy NASA

Figure 1: Comparison of the LCE (A, C) with future Martian (B) and lunar bases (D).

Lewis and Clark as Transformational Leaders

L&C exhibited many leadership competencies including passionate purpose, realistic

optimism, strategic thinking, honoring diversity, productive partnering, compassionate

discipline, rational risk-taking, and team spirit development (Uldrich 2004). They successfully

learned from mistakes, tried new approaches, and dealt with adversity. Thanks to their detailed

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5,000 pages of journal entries, we have a thorough account of the LCE round trip journey to find

a water route across North America to the Pacific Ocean (University_of_Nebraska_Press 2005).

L&C were men of the Enlightenment, which meant they were lifelong learners who

highly regarded education and discovery. Thus, in addition to the primary goal of discovering a

route to the Pacific, they viewed their mission as one of the utmost importance to advancing

human knowledge. L&C never lost their sense of passionate purpose to the higher mission

goals. In the words of Uldrich (2004):

“Their commitment to higher purpose helped optimism prevail over pessimism, curiosity
over arrogance, compassion over callousness, and risk taking over comfort. The
strengthened the captains’ resolve during times of danger, helped stave off defeatism
when defeat seemed imminent, and served as a constant motivating force to themselves
and the Corps of Discovery throughout the expedition.”

L&C’s unflinching optimism helped them to emphasize the positive aspects of any situation no

matter how bleak it was. They recognized but never needlessly dwelled upon the difficulties

before them.

This absence of pessimism in L&C’s demeanor transferred to those whom they

commanded, and more than once Clark wrote of the group’s cheerfulness despite great physical

hardship. For example, the trip over the Bitteroot Mountains of Montana in September 1805 was

the severest test of the expedition (University_of_Nebraska_Press 2005). Despite near starvation

under miserable weather conditions, L&C never once complained. The Corps of Discovery drew

strength from their leaders’ unflinching courage and optimism.

L&C’s positive thinking allowed them to overcome challenges so that obstacles never

became barriers. They achieved this by visualizing the future success of the mission and never

losing sight of that vision no matter what came their way. When they made mistakes, L&C They

learned from them and used them as learning lessons rather than setbacks. This allowed them

not to become overwhelmed by unfavorable situations, and they were able to maintain their

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perspective of the greater mission purpose. Such commitment to vision is one hallmark of great

transformational leadership.

Leading the Corps of Discovery into the unknown required a great deal of wisdom, luck,

and risk management. Although L&C were aggressive leaders, they knew when to take risks and

when to be more conservative. On multiple occasions, they invested valuable time and resources

by sending parties ahead to test out alternative routes in order to hedge against possible failure by

the whole team. They never lost sight of the big picture and, therefore, were able to keep

priorities of each decision in the context of the mission’s lofty goals. This helped the group

maintain confidence and trust in the expedition’s leadership.

L&C showed a great deal of empathy towards the needs of their fellow expedition

members. They knew when to push their men to exhaustion and when to give them time to rest

and recuperate. For example, after learning their lesson crossing the Bitterroot Mountains on the

outbound trip, they waited a month for the snow to melt before crossing the them on the return

(Uldrich 2004). L&C also boosted group morale by granting rations of whiskey after achieving

significant milestones in the journey. When Sergeant Charles Floyd died on the trip, L&C

showed a great deal of compassion both in caring for him during his illness and in allowing the

Corps of Discovery men to elect the Sergeant’s replacement after he was gone.

Transformational leaders embrace diversity and capitalize on the strengths of the varied

backgrounds of their subordinates. For men of the early 18th century, L&C were particularly

accepting other cultures and made the innovative choice to integrate outsiders into their crew.

Their Corps of Discovery team included Native American guides and translators, French

boatsmen, and an African American slave named York who by all accounts was a full and equal

member of the team (Uldrich 2004). L&C believed that their team would bond better if they

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shared cultures, so they encouraged interactions like singing and insisted that boats had ethno-

culturally mixed crews.

Sacagawea gave birth to a boy in February 1805 while the expedition was wintering over

at For Mandan, and he too became an integral member of the crew

(University_of_Nebraska_Press 2005). A group traveling with a woman and child probably

helped ease relations with native peoples encountered along the way compared to an all-white

group of men who would be perceived more as outsiders. L&C realized this advantage and went

to great lengths to maintain it. When Sacagawea died after the expedition, Clark took it upon

himself to educate and raise her child, which gives further insight into his strength of character

(Uldrich 2004).

As military commanders, L&C were under no obligation to solicit or listen to the

opinions of their men. However, once the expedition entered unchartered territory, their

leadership style took on a more egalitarian tone in order to foster teamwork and group unity. On

occasion, L&C chose to empower their men with democratic powers to decide what punishment

of fellow soldiers should receive for various infractions. For example, L&C allowed every

member of their team, including Sacagawea and York, to vote on the location of their winter

camp, but L&C also did not hesitate to make an executive decisions in dangerous situations

(Uldrich 2004). This illustrates their savvy in knowing when to administer absolute directives

and when to trust the judgment of their teammates.

One June 2, 1805, the LCE came upon a fork in the river, and they did not know which

branch to take. As the military leaders of the expedition, L&C could have simply announced

their decision to the group and ordered them to proceed up the south fork. However, the rest of

the Corps of Discovery disagreed with this conclusion and thought the northern fork was the

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correct route. Having already traveled over 2000 miles together as a team, the group was

functioning well with high morale. L&C didn’t want to risk breaking the team spirit, so they

sent scout teams up both forks to gather more information to bring to the table. The leaders’

initial assessment turned out to be correct, but having spent the extra effort to demonstrate why

to their subordinates allowed the followers to accept the logic of the choice with no erosion of

group morale. The strategy worked because when the LCE later encountered similar situations,

the Corps of Discovery members were quicker to trust the judgment of L&C. In this episode,

L&C demonstrated their wisdom as leaders and skill in guiding their subjects towards greater

understanding of truth by respecting the opinions of each expedition member.

Lewis and Clark’s approach to discipline was also flexible. Although they never failed to

administer punishment when appropriate, they applied it in different measures and methods

depending on the crime and external situation. For example, in the early stages of the

expedition, L&C tended to give the new expedition members the benefit of the doubt and issued

less severe punishments than during intermediate stages when their punishment was quite severe.

Once they entered uncharted territory, however, L&C adopted a more compassionate approach to

discipline involving positive motivation (Uldrich 2004). This was essential to maintain group

cohesiveness and the success of the expedition. When infractions did occur during the later

stages of the expedition, L&C tended to solicit feedback from the Corps of Discovery on how to

handle challenging situations, and in some cases they allowed the men to try offenders in court

marshals (Uldrich 2004). They demonstrated a great deal of fairness and strategic thinking in this

regard since there were very few repeat offenders.

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Figure 2: Lewis and Clark (image courtesy Oregon Historical Society)

Conclusion

The Lewis and Clark Expedition was a voyage of discovery dedicated to exploration,

scientific and cultural discovery, and commercial trade in the name of U.S. Manifest Destiny.

L&C’s journals chronicled the flora, fauna, fish, fossils, land, weather, and native peoples. They

discovered over 200 new plant and animal species and encountered 72 Native American tribes

(University_of_Nebraska_Press 2005). The expedition left a tremendous scientific legacy that

can be felt to this day. The expedition was successful due to the skilled leadership of co-captains

Lewis and Clark. As men of the Enlightenment, they committed themselves to the higher

purpose of discovery that transcended worldly aspirations and carried out their vision by

motivating the Corps of Discovery never to give up despite great adversity. Realizing the

uncertainty involved in exploring unknown territory, L&C adopted a transformational leadership

style to foster team unity and ensure mission success. The first manned lunar and Mars

expeditions will likely encounter a great deal of risk and uncertainty under remote, isolated

conditions, and mission commanders for those expeditions would be well-served to adopt some

of the leadership traits of L&C.

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