Mike Gronstal: Iowa Senate Majority Leader and NCSL president.

• Author: Andrade, Jane Carroll
• Position: THE FINAL WORD - Interview

Mike Gronstal (D) has served in the Iowa Senate since 1985 and was a member of the Iowa House from 1983 to '85. Gronstal grew up in Council Bluffs and attended Antioch College in Ohio. He was a social worker before being elected to the General Assembly.

What are your priorities for NCSL? I want to strengthen the organization in a way that magnifies our voice in Washington, D.C., and help make it more relevant to state legislators across the country. I tell a story about my parents. They would go out to dinner every weekend with six or eight couples, half of them Democrats and half of them Republicans. But in today's world, Democrats go out to dinner with Democrats and Republicans go to dinner with Republicans. We've sorted ourselves into factions or tribes. But my parents, they were friends first and then they had their politics. At Sunday morning breakfast, they would talk about what their friends were talking about the night before--the issues of the day. That's what NCSL does for state legislators. It provides those kinds of venues where people in different tribes or groups or parties can come together and set aside the pieces that deeply divide them and work on things that are important to everybody. That's why I celebrate NCSL.

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What role does humor play in your life? I enjoy humor, I enjoy laughing. It's a way for people to break down their defenses for a moment. I tell some pretty bad jokes that make people groan.

Did your experience as a social worker influence your desire to seek public office? It did in an interesting way. I have incredible respect for people who do social work. It is a very, very tough job. For me it was particularly difficult to leave the job at the office. When I'd come home at night, it wasn't easy to disengage. I did it for five and a half, six years. I wasn't burned out yet, but I could see burnout on the horizon, so I left social work. The legislature still gives me that opportunity to do good and leave the world a better place, but it's not quite as personal as social work is.

What does it take to be an effective leader? Well, heck if I know! [Laughs.] I think it's about good instincts. I think I had a good upbringing. Good leaders remind people what brought them to the dance in the first place. And the good news is, at least at the state legislating level, it is rarely ego or power. It's about some fundamental belief that you can help the world be a better place.

What lessons are we...