The Courage to Explore: Lessons from the Lewis and Clark Expedition
By Jon Bergstrom
The 19th Annual Pegasus Conference concluded last week in Seattle, Washington. The conference theme was "Now More Than Ever: Critical Skills for Courageous Organizations."
Many speakers posed relevant questions and identified opportunities for all of us to consider becoming more courageous in our organizational thinking. I challenged myself to think of a courageous organization.
Here are some reasons that I believe the Lewis and Clark 
expedition to the Pacific Coast and the Corps of Discovery are a shining example.
Preparation
Thomas Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis, his 28-year-old personal secretary, to lead the Corps of Discovery.
- Lewis in turn chose 32-year-old William Clark as his co-leader.
- Together, they selected four dozen men and gathered guns, provisions, and gifts for the expedition.
- Lewis spent the spring of 1803 in Philadelphia studying biology, navigation, map making, medicine, and meteorology.
- They consulted with numerous people and their men to consider the variety of supplies needed for the lengthy trip.
Their preparation was so thorough that they never ran out of paper to write on or gunpowder for their weapons.
Teamwork
Lewis and Clark selected men who had a variety of talents and experiences. The diversity of their crew and the teamwork they displayed were keys to their success.
- The leaders ensured that each person had a clear view of the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead.
- They treated every member of the team with respect, something that was evident in all of their interactions.
- The Corps survived a desperately cold winter near the Mandan Villages in North Dakota (sometimes -45 degrees F). By spring, the men had bonded in close friendships and were all of one mind when they departed.
- The French trapper, Charbonneau, and his wife, Sacagawea, were asked to join the expedition. They accepted, despite the fact that Sacagawea had just given birth to a baby boy 8 weeks earlier.
- The addition of Sacagawea proved to be extraordinarily important. She and her baby brought a sense of family to the Corps. Her connections to the Shosoni tribe were later the key to gaining access to horses for the journey over the Bitterroot Mountains. Finally, her presence convinced women of the Nez Perce tribe that their men should not kill the strangers who had come.
- The Corps treated the many people they met on the trip as friends and fellow human beings.
- This often took great courage, as they were uncertain how they would be received.
- They always attempted friendship, giving gifts and trading goods. They never used their superior power to gain advantage.
The men were a team to the end--and would have died for each other, if necessary. They were individually and collectively courageous. They maintained their integrity and that of our young nation throughout their journey.
Hard Work
There were no easy parts of the trip west. Some moments were almost impossibly difficult. The men's vision, commitment, and teamwork kept them together.
- They shared the hard work and understood each other's talents.
- They knew whom to turn to when they needed the best marksman or fire starters.
- They maintained their mental balance in the face of many unforeseen circumstances and difficulties.
- They found that together they were much stronger than the sum of their parts.
Just reading about the difficulties of their journey is tiring. The real thing required lots of guts.
Conclusions
The Corps of Discovery returned to St. Louis on September 23, 1806, two and one half years after their departure. Some 5,000 people lined the banks to cheer their return.
They were as famous in their day as our first men on the moon. Their journey opened our imagination to new possibilities and opportunities. While the team members each received considerable adulation and rewards, their greatest gift was their own knowledge of their capacity to discover and to overcome adversity.
As we think about our own explorations, I believe we can learn much about what it means to be a courageous organization from the brave men and women of the Corps of Discovery.
Jon Bergstrom provides a wide range of consulting services to businesses and non-profit organizations through the Bergstrom Learning Center in Tehachapi, California.
Painting Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia by Charles Marion Russell; this image is in the public domain due to age.