Lean in. Opt out. Have it all. None of the above.
A new audiobook based on a groundbreaking cross-generational study reveals both greater freedom and new constraints for men and women in their work and family lives.
Stew Friedman, founding director of The Wharton School’s Work/Life Integration Project, studied two generations of Wharton college students as they graduated: Gen Xers in 1992 and Millennials in 2012. The cross-generational study produced a stark discovery – the rate of graduates who plan to have children has dropped by nearly half over the past 20 years. At the same time, men and women are now more aligned in their attitudes about dual-career relationships, and they are opting out of parenthood in equal proportions. But their reasons for doing so are quite different.
In his new book, Baby Bust: New Choices for Men and Women in Work and Family, Friedman draws on this unique research to explain why so many young people are not planning to become parents. He reveals good news, that there is a greater freedom of choice now, and bad, that new constraints are limiting people’s options. In light of these present realities, he offers ideas for what we can do as a society, in our organizations, and for ourselves to make it easier for men and women to choose the lives they want.
In this audiobook, Friedman addresses:
+ How views about work and family have changed in the past 20 years
+ Why men and women have different reasons for opting out of parenthood
+ How family has been redefined
+ Why we are all now part of a revolution in work and family
+ What choices we face in our social and educational policy
+ How organizations and individuals – especially men – can spur cultural change
In the debates on work and family, people of all generations are calling for a reasoned, thoughtful, research-driven contribution to the discussion. In Baby Bust, Friedman offers just that: an astute assessment of how far we have come and where we need to go from here.
Gildan Media is proud to bring you another Wharton Digital Press Audiobook. These notable audiobooks contain the essential tools that can be applied to every facet of your career.

You’re busy trying to lead a “full” life. But does it really feel full-or are you stretched too thin? Enter Stew Friedman, Wharton professor, adviser to leaders across the globe, and passionate advocate of replacing the misguided metaphor of “work/life balance” with something more realistic and sustainable. If you’re seeking “balance” you’ll never achieve it, argues Friedman. The idea that “work” competes with “life” ignores the more nuanced reality of our humanity-the interaction of four domains: work, home, community, and the private self. The goal is to create harmony among them instead of thinking only in terms of trade-offs. It can be done.
Building on his national bestseller, Total Leadership, Friedman identifies the critical skills for integrating work and the rest of life. He illustrates them through compelling original stories of these remarkable people: former Bain Company CEO and Bridgespan cofounder Tom Tierney, Facebook COO and bestselling author Sheryl Sandberg, nonprofit leader and US Navy SEAL Eric Greitens, US First Lady Michelle Obama, soccer champion-turned-broadcaster Julie Foudy, and renowned artist Bruce Springsteen.
Each of these admirable (though surely imperfect) people exemplifies a set of skills-for being real, being whole, and being innovative-that produce a sense of purpose, coherence, and optimism.

How working parents can lead more purposeful lives, characterized by harmony, connection, and impact.
Parents in today’s fast-paced, disorienting world can easily lose track of who they are and what really matters most. But it doesn’t have to be this way. As a parent, you can harness the powerful science of leadership in order to thrive in all aspects of your life.
Drawing on the principles of his book Total Leadership-a bestseller and popular leadership development program used in organizations worldwide-and on their experience as researchers, educators, consultants, coaches, and parents, Stew Friedman and coauthor Alyssa Westring offer a robust, proven method that will help you gain a greater sense of purpose and control. It includes tools illustrated with compelling examples from the lives of real working parents that show you how to: design a future based on your core values; engage with your children in fresh, meaningful ways; cultivate a community of caregiving and support, in all parts of your life; and experiment to discover better ways to live and work. Powerful, practical, and indispensable, Parents Who Lead is the guide you need to forge a better future, foster meaningful and mutually rewarding relationships, and design sustainable solutions for creating a richer life for yourself, your children, and your world.

What if you could improve your performance in the areas that seem to be most at odds with each other-work and life beyond work-at the same time? Most of us assume it can’t be done. But contrary to the conventional wisdom, the different domains of our lives don’t have to compete in a zero-sum game. However, managing them takes real leadership skill.
Adapted from author Stew Friedman’s popular Wharton School course, Total Leadership will help you identify your core values-what’s fundamentally important to you-and make them come alive in your everyday actions at work, at home, in your community, and within yourself. By improving these areas of life simultaneously, you’ll get more done with less stress.
Friedman’s approach has been pressure-tested by years of working with people at every level of experience, in companies large and small. His step-by-step instruction, engaging examples, and more than thirty hands-on tools will help you create sustainable change and achieve higher levels of performance in all parts of your life. Total Leadership offers a compelling new framework that enables you to:
• Be real: Act with authenticity by clarifying what’s important
• Be whole: Act with integrity by respecting the whole person
• Be innovative: Act with creativity by experimenting to find new solutions
Gain greater clarity of purpose, accomplish more at work, and feel more connected to the people and causes that matter most to you. Leadership can-and indeed must-be learned. But first you’ve got to choose to lead. If you’re going to make a difference, thinking of yourself as a leader will make it more likely that your legacy-not your fantasy, but the real impact of your life, today and in the long run-is the one you really want.