Earlier this year, I did something uncomfortable.
I revisited my values—not just the feel-good ones, but the hard ones. I wanted clarity on where I stood… and what kind of mindset I’d need to achieve the goals I’ve set for myself in this next chapter of life.
But what I found wasn’t clarity.
It was contradiction.
What do you do when the very traits you admire—and aspire to—start to pull against each other like stubborn horses in opposite directions?
Here’s what I found myself staring at:
- “Empathy” vs. “Detachment”
- “Candor” vs. “Tact”
- “Spirituality” vs. “Power”
It was around this mental wrestling match that I stumbled upon Ruthlessly Caring by Amy Walters. And it felt like the universe went, “Here, Linu. I made you a user manual.”
📘 The Book That Named the Storm
Ruthlessly Caring isn’t your average leadership book. Amy Walters explores five paradoxical mindsets we need to hold in the age of uncertainty—woven against the backdrop of 12 global megatrends that are re-shaping how we work, live, lead, and think.
The genius of this book isn’t in giving tidy answers. It’s in naming the tensions—and offering a framework for navigating them without losing your compass.
She doesn’t tell you to pick a side. She invites you to dance with both truths.
The result? A book that’s part strategy, part soul. It’s lucid, honest, and deeply relevant if you’ve ever struggled with being “too nice” in a cutthroat world or “too blunt” in a delicate room.
One gem that won’t leave me:
“Leadership is not a state of arrival, but a series of continuous calibrations.”
That line alone could be a meditation. Because for those of us trying to become more thoughtful, more intentional humans—not just perform the role of “leader”—this is the work: constant rebalancing.
💡 Why You Might Love It Too
This book doesn’t just speak to team leads or execs. It’s for anyone trying to grow without breaking. To evolve without disowning parts of themselves.
If you’re navigating personal transformation or recalibrating how you show up in the world, Ruthlessly Caring is both mirror and map.
It helped me reframe my contradictions not as weaknesses, but as muscles I’m still learning how to use in tandem.
And if nothing else, it gave me permission to be in process—to be complex, to be evolving, and to know that leadership today isn’t about having one answer… it’s about asking better questions.
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