The Firstborn Advantage: Making Your Birth Order Work for You

Firstborns were born to win. Clearly the natural movers, shakers, and leaders of this world, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. They're the high achievers, the benchmark-setters, the business moguls, the concert violinists, the heads of the PTA. But if they're out of balance, they can be overly perfectionistic, driven, and critical. They can become controllers (everything has to go their way) or pleasers (exhausting themselves in meeting the demands of others). In The Firstborn Advantage, bestselling author, humorist, and internationally known psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman identifies the qualities of firstborns...and there's a hook. Just because you're the firstborn child in the family doesn't mean you'll have a firstborn personality. You can be #3 in a group of 4 siblings, and still have a firstborn personality Dr. Leman reveals why. He helps firstborns understand their natural advantages--while becoming aware of their weaknesses and learning how to sidestep them--for the highest level of personal success at home, at school, at work, and in relationships. This fun, informative, and practical book will keep readers engaged and provide many aha moments.

"What do Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie have in common? And how do they share that certain something with Ulysses S. Grant? They're all first-borns, and in this breezy book, psychologist and 'birth order expert' Leman delves into how birth order influences the first-born personality and upends some conventional thinking (e.g., only children and the first child of either sex is automatically a first-born — hence Jolie who has an elder brother can be classified as such) and illustrates first-borns' classic traits: reliability, perfectionism, a penchant for list making and black-and-white thinking, some social introversion but strong leadership abilities. Gender, parental treatment and family size are just as important as chronology, argues the author, who does an admirable job balancing the hope and hype of familial ranking and integrates compelling theories about how schooling and relationships work to address how first-borns can maximize desirable personality traits and minimize liabilities. His spirited and exceptionally easy read will appeal to those readers interested in understanding better whence they came and how to move forward with success. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Bestselling author, humorist, and internationally known psychologist Dr. Leman helps firstborns understand their natural advantages for the highest level of personal success at home, school, work, and in relationships.