The quiet weight of responsibility in The Promises of Giants
Some books announce their importance early. Others earn it gradually, through tone rather than volume. The Promises of Giants belongs firmly in the latter category.
I came to John Amaechi’s book expecting insight on leadership, power and responsibility. What I found instead was something more personal and, at times, quietly confronting. This is not a book about becoming a “giant” in the sense of status or success, but about what it means to be one in the lives of others, whether you realise it or not.
Amaechi’s central idea is simple and unsettling: all of us occupy positions of relative power at different moments, and the promises we make, explicitly or implicitly, shape the psychological safety of those around us. Leadership here is not a title, but an impact.
Reading it, I found myself reflecting less on organisations and more on everyday interactions. Conversations I might have rushed. Assumptions I might have made. The small signals that tell people whether they belong, whether they are safe to speak, whether they matter.
There is a strong moral clarity to the book, but it never tips into preachy territory. Amaechi writes with warmth, precision and restraint, weaving neuroscience, lived experience and storytelling into something that feels grounded and human. You come away not with a toolkit, but with a heightened awareness of the weight you carry.
This is a book that lingers. Not because it overwhelms, but because it sharpens your attention. Once read, it quietly follows you into meetings, decisions and moments of influence you might previously have overlooked.
If leadership is ultimately about how we affect others when they are at their most vulnerable, The Promises of Giants is a powerful reminder that influence is rarely neutral.
