Biography of Joe Biden as a leader in all parts of life, written by Wharton MBA student for a course on leadership from the point of view of the whole person.

1. Joe Biden
A national leader in work-life
integration
Elise Aronson

2. Joe Biden
• Born in 1942 in Scranton, PA
• United States Senator from
Delaware, 1973-2009
• Sixth youngest Senator
in U.S. History
• Unsuccessfully ran for
President in 1988 & 2008
• 47th President of the
United States, 2009-2017

3. A Career Marked by Personal Tragedy
• A few weeks after Joe’s
election to the U.S. Senate,
his wife and one year old
daughter were killed in a car
crash while out Christmas
shopping. His two sons, Beau
and Hunter, survived the
crash with injuries.
• His son Beau Biden, who had
a bright political future, died
of brain cancer in 2015 at the
age of 46, which has
motivated Joe’s intent to
speed the search for the cure
to cancer

4. A Fully Integrated Life - Work
• Record of working across the
political aisle
• Never question someone’s
motive
• Transparent with emotions
• A leader in the office in work-
life integration

5. A Fully Integrated Life - Family
• “Amtrak Joe”
• Puts family first
• “The rule in the office was if
the boys called, he was to be
interrupted no matter what
he was doing or who he was
talking to. He was never out
of communication with
them."

6. A Fully Integrated Life - Self
• Makes time to read
• Pursues work that is
personally meaningful to him
such as the cancer moonshot
initiative

7. A Fully Integrated Life - Community
• “He's a man quick to find a
doctor for someone's sick
grandmother or hold a
fundraiser for a local
firefighter battling cancer.”
• Received the Best of
Congress Award from
Working Mother magazine
for “improving the American
quality of life through family-
friendly work policies”

8. Lessons Learned from Joe
• Family comes first, but you can find a way to make it work with your
career
• “No matter what profession you pursue, it really matters to get to
know your competition as well as your friend…. To understand what
makes them tick and what their limits are, understand where they
come from”
• Balance Ambition with Perspective
• "It's about being engaged. It's about being there for a friend or a colleague
when they're injured or in an accident, remembering the birthdays,
congratulating them on their marriage, celebrating the birth of their child. It's
about being available to them when they're going through personal loss. It's
about loving someone more than yourself."

9. Sources
• Joe Biden spoke with Amy Gutmann at Penn, March 30th 2017
• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/magazine/joe-biden-i-wish-to-hell-id-
just-kept-saying-the-exact-same-thing.html?_r=0
• http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/joe-biden-the-rolling-stone-
interview-20130509
• http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/24/nation/na-biden24
• https://web.archive.org/web/20081125111957/http://biden.senate.gov/pres
s/press_releases/release/?id=DCA94360-B4AC-4BED-A41E-B7C27F42B4A1
• http://www.mediaite.com/online/it-looks-like-biden-doesnt-let-his-staff-miss-
family-obligations-to-work/