A Tale of Two Leadership Styles

After seeing the young Bruce Springsteen in concert, rock critic Jon Landau famously wrote: "I have seen the future of rock and roll, and its name is Bruce Springsteen."

Well, I've just had a Springsteen moment. After spending some time last week with Andy Stern, the groundbreaking president of the Service Employees International Union, I'm ready to declare: I have seen the future of progressive leadership in America, and its name is Andy Stern.

You'll forgive me if I temporarily trade my critic's platform for a cheerleader's megaphone, but I've spent the better part of my adult life obsessing over the dwarfish nature of modern political leadership. (I even wrote an entire book about it in my mid-20s, and watched while it was rejected by 36 publishers before it finally saw the light of day.) So when I see the real deal, I react like a starving woman being escorted to an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Now, I suspected that Stern was the real deal even before I met him, having followed his fight to pull the American labor movement out of its decades-long death spiral. But what indisputably come across in person are his fire and passion for the 1.8 million janitors, nurses, social workers, security guards and home health care aides he represents -- and, by extension, for all working Americans.

When he talks about their lives and their struggle to provide for their families, he so clearly connects with their plight that he invests it with an urgency sorely lacking in our contemporary political discourse. What Stern wants to do is nothing less than create a vibrant 21st-century labor movement, which he considers "America's best anti-poverty program"; turn the tide against the Wal-Martization of our economy; and, while he's at it, help save the Democratic Party.

So how is he doing it? For starters, with a leadership style that is bold, innovative and fearless -- and that has recently landed him on the covers of both Business Week and the New York Times Magazine. It was in full display this week as leaders of the AFL-CIO met in Las Vegas to debate labor's future. Like all transformational leaders, Stern knows that the real battle begins not with your enemies but with those on your side of the fence. To this end, Stern has issued an ultimatum to AFL-CIO president John Sweeney: Implement a slate of specific reforms that, in Stern's words, would "build something stronger that really changes workers' lives" or he and his members will leave and continue the process they started on their own.

Bold actions like this have not exactly endeared Stern to his fellow union leaders -- a fact that doesn't seem to trouble him a bit. As my compatriot Pericles used to say, "Courage is the knowledge of what is not to be feared." Stern's courage has been very hard-earned, the result of the tragic loss of his 14-year-old daughter, Cassie, who died in his arms just over two years ago, following what was supposed to be a routine operation. The experience devastated him -- but also galvanized his resolve. "Things you think you are scared of become insignificant," he told me. "It suddenly hits you: Why am I so afraid to say what I really think?"

And so that's exactly what he does, shaking things up with his reform-or-else threat to break up the AFL-CIO; with a campaign to bring Wal-Mart to its knees; and with his pledge to "pay back" politicians, "no matter who they are or what party they come from ... who looked us in the eye and said they were for us -- but then went out and betrayed us." But Stern is far more than just a fearless fighter; he is also a brilliant and innovative thinker and strategist. "To lead is to choose," he says, "and it is unacceptable in these extraordinary times to ignore the choices facing us. I want the SEIU to be the leading political force in our country that moves our leaders to face the difficult choices."