Skills for Integrating Work and Life
By Stewart D. Friedman
Harvard Business Review Press, 256 pages, $25
It seems that everyone has an opinion on work/life balance these days, but Stewart D. Friedman's Leading the Life You Want isn't necessarily one of them. Well, it is, but it's also a lot more. Friedman, a professor at the Wharton School of Business, advocates replacing "work/life balance" with something more realistic, sustainable and enriching. That idea dictates that work and life compete when actually, the author is searching for ways workers can achieve something significant in their life's work without shortchanging the people who count on them the most. He argues what's needed most is an integration of four central domains—work, home, community and the private self. It can be done—without tradeoffs. To illustrate how, he tells compelling stories of six successful people who he says have cracked the code, including Tom Tierney, former CEO of Bain & Company, Michelle Obama and Bruce Springsteen. Their stories illustrate how their success is accomplished not at the expense of the rest of life, but rather as the result of meaningful attachment to all its parts.
