Leadership in Practice:

The Satellite Development Club

Lucas Fernandes
Kyle Hudgins
Matthew Lepine
Mercedes McDermott
Matthew Nicholson
Rachel Welch

BUS 1010: Leadership Practice

Prof. Sharon Wulf

May 3, 2016
Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................... 2
Organizational Leadership......................................................................3
Advertising............................................................................................ 7
Member Engagement...........................................................................10
Conclusion...........................................................................................12

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Introduction
While there are about 200 student clubs and groups on the WPI

campus, there are a handful of organizations that stand out as models of

strong organizational leadership. One such group is the Satellite

Development Club (SDC), a relatively new club on campus that has made a

big impact during their short existence. The SDC provides students with

opportunities to pursue their passion for space exploration outside of their

formal education while facilitating their professional development. This is

accomplished through the research and development of small, inexpensive

satellites such as CubeSats. CubeSats are standardized satellites that

provide a platform for universities and companies to experiment in space

environments. Building small satellites with the SDC allows students to

develop and learn about electronics, software, and mechanical hardware

designed for use in space. As a result of this hands-on experience, students

practice communication skills through technical writing, design reviews,

and public speaking. The SDC works in an interdisciplinary team of various

technical subgroups and practices collaborative problem solving as well as

leadership skills. After starting the 2015-2016 academic year with half a

dozen members and a shaky vision, the SDC took huge strides throughout

the year to gain 15 additional members, establish partnerships with

companies in the industry, compete in a NASA Challenge, and become a

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model of strong leadership on campus. In the process of this growth, SDC

leadership found that the keys to their success are strong organizational

leadership, effective advertising campaigns, and active member

engagement.

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Organizational Leadership
The SDC has been successful in large part because of their

implementation of good organizational leadership. The SDC began this

practice by first ensuring that the right people were chosen to be on the

executive board, serving as officers and directors of various functions. Not

only was recruiting the right people important, but also ensuring jobs fit

each persons interests as well as the needs of the team was an equal

priority. Each executive board member has come to the agreement that

being an executive means dedicating a high level of commitment to the

club. This commitment, as well as seeking constant improvement of their

leadership abilities, enables the club to thrive. When asked what key traits

made the executive board successful as leaders, the club president said,

listening, delegation, trust, enthusiasm, adaptability, and proactivity have

been essential to our growth this year, and I believe they are also keys to

making any organization function to its highest potential.

The president uses a number of tactics to lead her followers. One of

the most visible is how she develops relationships with teammates by

clearly communicating with all the members of her club. During work

meetings, she speaks to each subgroup manager and sometimes each

individual crew member. She checks on progress, ensures communication

amongst subgroups, and investigates any major obstacles in the way of

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accomplishing the teams goals, then enacts plans to overcome those

obstacles.

In order to lead teammates effectively towards accomplishing

organizational goals, the president uses various influence tactics in her

interactions with the team. She uses rational persuasion to explain to the

logically minded engineers why the club goals are worth pursuing and what

value supporting these goals brings to each individual (DuBrin, 2016). She

frequently consults with members by asking for each persons thoughts and

concerns regarding important club decisions (DuBrin, 2016). For example,

the SDC was presented with an opportunity to pursue the goal of a satellite

launch outside the initially chosen objectives of the challenge. Instead of

making this big decision herself or with only the executive board, the

president sought out the ideas of each club member in order to expose

potential advantages and disadvantages of launching the satellite in a

different manner. When a final decision was chosen, the team was

noticeably more convinced and inspired to support the new goal because

their opinions and ideas were all taken into account.

Building a satellite is no small task, and it takes an entire team

working as a whole to attain this goal. The president and her executive

board alone cannot finish such a complex machine by themselves, so they

delegate tasks to teammates. Work is divided according to the teams

hierarchal structure with managerial tasks assigned to the executive board

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and technical jobs given to the appropriate subgroups. From there,

subgroup managers delegate specific jobs to crew members in each

subgroup. Subgroup managers are encouraged to implement empowering

practices that enable and inspire crew members to complete tasks. For

example, the Command and Data Handling (C&DH) subgroup, which

programs the CubeSat, divides work according to the subsystem. There are

specific tasks each subsystem must accomplish so the code for each

subsystem is unique. Each C&DH crew member is assigned a subsystem to

work closely with and then writes the code for that subsystem. Each crew

member knows exactly which subsystem to program for, resulting in an

effective delegation of work.

Especially for a new club on campus, it takes a great deal of

enthusiasm to convince new members to keep coming back when there may

not be an immediate reward for doing so. Expressing this enthusiasm in a

manner that inspires followers relates to a leaders capacity to be

charismatic. Andrew DuBrin says in regards to charisma, a key dimension

of charismatic leadership is that, like all leadership, it involves a

relationship or interaction between the leader and the people being led

(DuBrin, 2016). The SDC found proof of the importance of this relationship

through their recruiting efforts. After competing in their first round of

competition and gaining some traction, the SDC hosted a prospective

member info session to get more students excited to join the team and put

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the teams technology in space. The club advertised this session in almost

all formal outlets on campus, from the daily events email, to table sitting in

the Campus Center, to advertisements on the TVs in the dining hall. Yet

when the day came for the meeting, the president asked, Who heard of us

through these advertisements?; no one raised their hand in confirmation.

She then asked, How many of you were brought here by a friend?;

everyone raised his or her hand. While the advertisements were not

necessarily successful, the enthusiasm that spread from the clubs leaders

to the clubs members and then to the members friends was inspirational

enough to inspire the support of a number of new members to the club

following that meeting.

In addition to working on organizational leadership traits, it is also

important for the board to be enthusiastic about their clubs mission and the

objectives they have set for the year. The SDC began the 2015-2016

academic year with few concrete goals and shaky leadership. By the end of

the year, it flourished into a thriving community of space enthusiasts unified

by the pursuit of the CubeQuest Challenge. To make such leaps and bounds,

club leadership implemented a number of effective practices such as

consultation, empowerment, and charisma, enabling the SDC to not only

compete in a NASA Centennial Challenge but also to establish itself as a

new, strong presence on campus.

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 In addition to the enthusiasm that the club exudes, the board also

shows a commitment to making the club a success and more prominent on

campus. SDC leadership took a proactive stance when guiding the club in

its development. From the start of the year, the club president recognized

the potential the club had to bring passionate people together and

capitalized on it by recruiting students with a variety of relevant skill sets to

join the team. She then encouraged teammates to accomplish tasks by

establishing loose but directive guidelines. In this way, teammates had work

delegated to them but were not restricted on how to accomplish those

tasks, therefore empowering them to make decisions and develop

personally through the process. This care for each persons development

established trust between the president and the rest of the team,

encouraging students to keep coming back and therefore directly

contributing to the clubs success (DuBrin, 2016).

In order to give members mentorship and guidance, they need to

complete tasks. The president and executive board frequently seek out

resources and advice. They are unafraid to admit what they do not know

and ask for help when they need it. The club as a whole appears to run

according to the idea that, in the words of the president, No one is going to

do the work for us. If we want to get our own technology into space, its up

to us to make it happen and learn about what we dont know from people

who have done it before. This big goal of ours is possible, but only if we

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reach out beyond our comfort zones and seize the opportunity. Yet in order

to harness the motivation of the clubs members and channel it into a

physical product, the SDC first had to recruit members.

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Advertising
One of the several ways the SDC has gone about increasing club

awareness and promoting the club brand is by using certain advertising

techniques to their advantage. In order to uphold an exceptional image

around campus, the club has maintained a steady membership flow

throughout their time in existence. To attain a steady flow of students

coming into the organization, the SDC developed four strategies: group

targeting, interactive advertising, social media, and incentives.

The SDC targets a broad spectrum of people here at WPI because

they believe that building a satellite requires a wide range of talents. In

order to achieve this goal of establishing a diverse membership in the club,

they interact with other clubs and organizations that share the values and

ambition of how technology is important to quality of life. Some of these

clubs include the Robotics Club and American Institute of Aeronautics and

Astronautics (AIAA) professional society. Having friends and acquaintances

in these respective clubs enables them to network with students and faculty

can help them become a truly innovative organization. The SDC also targets

their recruiting towards certain departments, which correlate to critical

systems on the CubeSat, such as electronics and aerospace engineering.

They then advertise through various media in strategic locations where the

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most students are found on a daily basis, such as the Pumpkin Lounge in

Atwater Kent and the lower entrance to Fuller Labs.

One tactic the SDC uses to promote their brand is by sharing its vision

with others. They accomplish this by preparing an elevator pitch for

potential members outlining what the club does, what their goals are, and

what they do. Having a vision not only gives the prospective member the

forethought of what the overall plan of the SDC is, but also encourages

membership to engage more in the club. Their slogan, Were putting

GOATS in space aims to generate interest in the public while

communicating their goal of sending their satellite named GOATS (which

stands for Goddard Orbital and Atmospheric Testing Satellite) into space.

They open their website with the welcoming mission statement, Our

mission is to facilitate development of students technical and professional

skills through the investigation of space technologies. They embrace the

different impact their members deliver to their corresponding goals.

One way the SDC can improve the club is by incorporating social

media as a means of advertisement. The club has been successful at

promoting its brand throughout campus by hosting events intended to rouse

excitement while encouraging new member participation. The use of social

media outlets would enable the SDC to popularize events on an even

greater scale. For example, the SDC could create an Instagram account to

post pictures of the satellites progress. Specifically, the hashtag feature

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would allow users to connect to the post while elevating the satellites

visibility with its audience as it appears on the popular page. In addition,

they could create a Snapchat account to post easily updatable videos of

their progress on the CubeSat. Visible success will improve interest,

attendance, and participation at club meetings. The group may also benefit

from employing Twitter as a source of live communication with its followers.

Tweets are simple and can be utilized however SDC sees the best fitfrom

meeting reminders to encouraging turnout at an event, Twitter offers an

array of possibilities. Aside from active participation, the mere visibility

offered by these social media tools would be advantageous to SDC.

Regardless of the combination of social media, awareness and activity is key

in fostering support and involvement.

Another great tool the SDC can use are incentives, whether it be free

food at the first meeting or having a raffle for people to win prizes. Aside

from the usual free food, t-shirts, and souvenirs, the club has also been

using unorthodox incentives to promote benefits to convince students to join

the club. The club thrives to implement innovation into their meetings by

regularly holding conference calls with NASA and other companies in the

industry to discuss the latest happenings in the field. Another example the

club offers is professional development activities, such as attending the MIT

New Space Age Conference, where the students learned the full spectrum

of the space business. The conference speakers from all over the nation

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discussed not only satellites and space tech, but they recognized how

profitable astro-preneurship can be. Attending this conference with the club

this allows all members from all backgrounds to explore the fields business

opportunities. The members are given the opportunity to network with

professionals in the industry to further their knowledge and future

opportunities.

Advertising, when executed correctly, can reach the timid student that

does not leave their dormitory as well as the extrovert who wants to be

involved with every club on campus. The goal of advertising is to inform the

targeted group about what an organization can offer and what it plans to

accomplish in the future. The SDC does just that with its advertising

methods. After strategic advertising, this new club grew to be one the most

successful new clubs at WPI.

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Member Engagement
One of the greatest practices that an organization can implement is

the engagement of its members. If a club or organization provides its

members goals and constantly demonstrates ways for members to give back

and get involved, member interest greatly increases. This is important for

all clubs, but is especially true for new organizations. An organization that

does not actively work on its member engagement strategies will eventually

cease to exist due to a lack of interest and involvement. In contrast, an

organization with good member engagement will inspire its group members

to give back, and individuals will get more out of the experience while the

group as a whole flourishes.

One of the most important ways that the SDC establishes good

member engagement is by providing a community feel. When passionate

people work towards a common goal, they bond in a powerful way. It is

important for members of a club or any organization to have esprit de

corps, because this increases the morale of the group, and the members will

be more excited to execute tasks. The SDC easily establishes this

community feel, because they are a relatively small group students who

share the same interest and passion for space exploration. They all truly

desire to make an impact and send their own technology into space. The

leaders of the SDC do a great job garnering this feeling by creating an

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environment where everyone is treated equally and with respect, regardless

of major, gender, or background. In fact, on the SDCs website their

welcoming message states, It doesnt matter your major or background,

building a satellite requires a wide range of talents and theres room for

everyone! (SDC, 2015). In many instances from his textbook, DuBrin states

that groups run more effectively and people are more efficient if they feel

valued and like they are an important part of the overall organization

(DuBrin, 2016).

More specifically for the SDC, they are able to achieve a community

feel because they have a very interesting and rewarding goal ahead of them.

They are competing in NASAs Centennial CubeQuest Challenge and plan on

sending a CubeSat into space. With such an intense objective in motion for

a small group of people, the members of the SDC have a very legitimate

sense of belonging and pride in their work. Along with their strong

community feel, the SDC has been effective in working towards their

CubeSat launch through a deliberate delegation of tasks.

In any sort of organization, leaders must delegate tasks to different

groups of individuals in order to make the team as effective as possible. The

SDC openly accepts members from any major on campus because they

understand there are many facets to the current project and additional

projects that may come about in the future. As the class discussed in Project

2, most organizations in the real world have to be cross-functional, because

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there are many different and complex components that need to be

addressed in order to achieve overall success. Within the SDC for example,

there is a need for mechanical engineers, aerospace engineers, electrical

engineers, programmers, and many other specialties. Everyone is able to

contribute in different ways that are all important for the final goal. A

proper delegation of tasks from the leaders of an organization is a win-win

scenario, because it increases productivity and morale, which are two

fundamental ingredients for success. With their clear delegation of tasks to

the different technical subgroups, the SDC is able to overcome the

challenge of having a relatively small number of members in order to be a

highly productive club on campus.

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Conclusion and Recommendations
Based on the analysis of the SDC, the organization is headed in the

right direction and is adopting great techniques in three areas:

organizational leadership, advertisement, and member engagement. As a

new club with a large project in the works with modest membership, there

are a couple recommendations that can be made to enhance the

organization moving forward. Our first recommendation is for the president

and executives of the SDC to try and reach out to successful and established

groups on campus and try to learn about what does and does not work when

trying to achieve success. Doing this could allow the SDC look at things

from a new perspective they had not previously seen. Next, they could

involve professors more and make use of advisors from WPIs faculty. By

having a strong mentor, the group could grow more and gain insight from

someone with more experience regarding satellites or other engineering

projects. Through the analysis of the SDC, it is evident that they are

utilizing great leadership methods, and if their approach continues, it will

result in great success for the club.

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Works Cited
DuBrin, A. (2016). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills (Vol.
8). Boston, MA, USA: Cengage Learning.
SDC. (2015). Satellite Development Club at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Retrieved May 1, 2016, from http://users.wpi.edu/~wpisdc/

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