Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Brian Shiro
Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Introduction
space. Although leaders need both transactional and transformational leadership skills, as
(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
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.
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
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
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
Figure 1: Comparison of the LCE (A, C) with future Martian (B) and lunar bases (D).
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
“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.
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
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
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-
Sacagawea gave birth to a boy in February 1805 while the expedition was wintering over
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).
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
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
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
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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
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
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
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