Those four qualities are good starters. Yet the setting for the pioneer-explorer paradigm is this vast and 'virgin' wilderness. The latter adjective is complex because there were already natives in the purchased territory. More importantly, though, Lewis and Clark were the first on record commissioned to plan and execute such an exploration. There may have been forerunners who either never survived, kept their successes secret, or whose reported experiences were ignored.

Now applying these ruminations to business leadership ventures is really something of a stretch in my view. First, there is no visionary leadership like that provided by Jefferson for the Core of Discovery. Companies seem instead to plan their strategies conservatively with "CYA" as priority one. The territory is not virgin, either. Most new ideas that our budding MBAs sit down and propose suffer from both a lack of imagination and risk. As such, executives who can sanction new ventures are harder to impress. Moreover, our pioneers are driven more by the need for revenues and profits; not by curiosity. And the Core had an indian guide to help them. Was that outsourcing?

No, the last vast untapped wilderness in need of discovery pioneers is the organizational landscape of companies and social groups. There must be a portal for the independent to become interdependent. But as always, the vision of extraordinary leaders is required before we will undertake such risky adventures.