United We Stand, Divided We Fall: leadership development in U.S. Labor unions SEIU BOLD/Rockwood : a case study

Abstract

Labor unions in the U.S. have been facing vicious socio-political attacks in the past three decades. These attacks have been translated into workers’ rights restrictions and losses at the state and the federal level, which resulted in a dangerous decline of the unionized workforce. Just like many organizations who face fast-paced changes, labor organizations adopted leadership development as an intervention tool for the survival of their entities and the labor movement as a whole. Studies have shown that despite several attempts from union organizations to develop their leaders through leadership development programs, there has not been an organizational indication for the results of these programs. In fact, research has discovered that union leaders and their staff members go through intense organizational resistance that hinders their ability to develop or apply what they have learned. This study applied a case study methodology to investigate how Service Employee International Union (SEIU) leaders have experienced the Building Organizational Leadership Development (BOLD)/Rockwood leadership development program while examining the organizational factors that influence these experiences. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 leaders and staff members of SEIU Headquarters, SEIU 1199 Healthcare Northwest, and SEIU 1199 Healthcare East to map their BOLD/Rockwood experiences and learning process. The findings of this case study contribute to advancing leadership development and leadership development programs’ models, highlighting the importance of organizational learning, organizational support, and advocacy. New models are proposed to explain how union leaders, and potentially other leaders, make continuous progress that is influential on the social and organizational level. Additionally, this study offers practical implications for leadership development professionals, HRD practitioners, union organizations, and especially SEIU BOLD/Rockwood on how to support the development of their leaders through leadership development programs.