Discover the Star Trek Captain Who Outshines Kirk and Picard as the Ideal Leader

However, this view overlooks a standout leader. As someone with two decades of experience in the U.S. Army, I can confidently say that if I were to find myself unexpectedly aboard a starship, the captain I would want at the helm is Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).

What truly sets a commanding officer apart is their ability to ensure mission success while safeguarding their crew. From my experiences in the military and as a devoted “Trek” fan, I can vouch for Janeway’s exceptional leadership qualities. She is not only decisive but also open to input from her team, valuing their expertise. While all “Star Trek” captains show remarkable leadership, none match Janeway’s unwavering dedication to her crew’s well-being throughout “Star Trek: Voyager.” Although she might need her coffee to kick-start her day, once she has it, Janeway is an unstoppable force.

During my time in the U.S. Army, I served under numerous commanders, some outstanding and others less so, who struggled even with guidance. The best leaders I encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan appreciated the importance of every team member, understanding that their collective experience and knowledge were crucial to mission success.

While serving in the U.S. Army, I worked for many excellent commanding officers and several who couldn’t find their way out of a closet with a map, flashlight, and/or a non-commissioned officer showing them the way. The very best commanders I served with in Iraq and Afghanistan, though, understood the need for every person under their command. They recognized that each one’s experience and knowledge contributes to overall mission success. 

The bad leaders, in contrast, think they can accomplish it all on their own. These are the kinds of commanders who get people killed.

Janeway fundamentally understands the burden of command — and that’s what it is, a burden. When I became a warrant officer and commanded men and women in combat, I understood this, as well. While I can’t honestly claim that Captain Janeway was a direct influence on my decisions, I recognize the leader she is in a fictional sense, and how great commanders like her put the mission and their people first.

In many ways, Capt. Janeway is a pioneer, but not only in the framework of the franchise. She was the first female lead of a “Star Trek” series, paving new ground as a strong role model. Much like Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) from “The X-Files,” Janeway’s dominating presence on the small screen influenced a generation of young women, thanks to their strength of character (and equally strong performances).

Janeway’s strength is seen in every command decision she makes throughout the course of the “Star Trek: Voyager” (and “Star Trek: Prodigy”). It all goes back to the first episode, “Caretaker,” when the Voyager and the Maquis ship she is pursuing are thrown into the Delta Quadrant. While she is determined to bring her crew home, Janeway makes the difficult decision to do the precise opposite. To protect the Ocampa people, she destroys the Caretaker array, dooming Voyager to its fate.

While this decision causes strife between Maquis and Starfleet personnel, it’s the right call. It shows a strong drive to do the hard right over the easy wrong, which is what you should expect (and hope for) from your captain, Starfleet or otherwise. And unlike other captains in the franchise, Janeway goes above and beyond to integrate her crew with the Maquis, pulling them into the fold. She takes it one step further by making Chakotay (Robert Beltran) her second-in-command, showing a great deal of trust in this new order that few captains could emulate.

Looking back on “Star Trek: Voyager,” it truly stands out how often Captain Janeway does absolutely everything to protect her crew. One of the most notable examples of this comes in the episode “Tuvix,” when a transporter accident merges Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Neelix (Ethan Phillips) into a single being. Tuvix (Tom Wright) is unique, showing traits from both individuals. While Tuvix desperately wants to live, Janeway makes the command decision to return her crewmembers to their original, separated selves.

This decision may seem heartless, but objectively, Janeway chooses to fulfill her promise to protect her crew — and returning Tuvok and Neelix to their original states means saving their lives. It’s a difficult decision, to be sure, but one that Janeway never shies away from. Sometimes, a commander has to do something others see as terrible when it’s fundamentally right. 

Janeway’s commitment can also be seen in the many times she has violated the Prime Directive. This notably includes providing technology to the Hirogen and allying with the Borg against Species 8472. These, and many other decisions, reveal that her high principles take a back seat when the survival of her crew is at stake. Conversely, Captain Picard endangered his entire ship in a confrontation with a godlike species. That’s not something Janeway would ever do, and in “Deadlock,” a quantum-displaced duplicate Janeway destroys Voyager to save the original ship and its crew. This example once again underlines Janeway’s determination in keeping her crew safe.

Captain Janeway is fierce and firmly in command when she goes up against some of the most dangerous species in the Delta Quadrant. That steel helps her to forge a temporary alliance with the Borg, which is how Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) comes aboard as a new member of the crew. Janeway takes a personal interest in Seven, fostering her acclimation from assimilation back into humanity. 

In the series finale (which is also one of the best “Star Trek: Voyager” episodes), it’s revealed that Voyager returned home after more than 20 years, but Seven died along the way. This pushes the now Admiral Janeway to break the Temporal Prime Directive and go up against the Borg one last time. She travels into the past and enlists her younger self to go up against the Borg’s Unicomplex to get home even earlier. She ultimately has her face-off with the nightmarish Borg Queen (Alice Krige) and is assimilated. Unbeknownst to the Queen, this was Janeway’s plan all along: She has injected a nanocomputer virus into her bloodstream, which infects the Queen.

This results in the entire complex’s destruction, and Voyager returns home 15 years earlier than before, with Seven alive and well. Not even time itself could stop Janeway from delivering on her promise to return her ship to the Alpha Quadrant and save her crew. 

Captains Kirk and Picard are the most famous “Star Trek” captains, but when you imagine them as your actual commanding officers … well, your survival outlook looks shaky. Serving beneath these top two captains is fairly hazardous. As far as Kirk goes, if you don’t already know, just say the term “Redshirt” to the average Trekkie and gauge their reaction. As for Picard, while it’s true that he’ll do things like go right into the lion’s den to save Data, he also doesn’t hesitate to kill his recently assimilated crewmembers in “Star Trek: First Contact,” insisting they couldn’t be saved. Seeing as Picard himself was once assimilated and saved, I find his claim suspect. 

Look, when it comes to leadership, we’re not talking about whether any of these captains is a fantastic character played by a talented actor. We’re asking whether you’d want to take orders from them. While Starfleet is certainly not a military organization, it was specifically modeled after the U.S. Military — the Navy, to be specific — and the dangerous situations these crews encounter can be similar enough, albeit more sci-fi. 

The truth is, as I can tell you from my Army experience, placing trust in a commander means putting your life in their hands. And would you rather serve aboard a vessel commanded by a brash, young hothead? A stoic diplomat? Or would you choose a determined, strategically minded, and highly qualified person who puts your life above their own? It says a lot that serving on Voyager — with its limited power, constant conflicts, and desperate mission — is preferable to being on other Star Trek crews, all because of the ship’s high-quality commander. Given the fictional opportunity, I’d raise my right hand to serve under Captain Janeway. Wouldn’t you?