Learning a Life

Fear, failure, achievement and experience – lessons for growth, resilience and wisdom

Raw, inspiring and practical, Learning a Life shows how setbacks shape wisdom and how purpose can transform not just what you do, but also who you are. Prof. Robert Care AM – engineer, Order of Australia recipient and leader of thousands – knows this truth from the inside.

Here, Robert strips away the masks to reveal his shadow side: the breakdowns, the impostor syndrome, the days when survival felt like the only thing. Yet woven through the darkness is light – stories of resilience, hard-won lessons on leadership, and the discovery that vulnerability can be the greatest strength of all.

This is not just a memoir of a successful career – it’s an invitation to anyone who believes real strength begins with honesty.

Prof. Robert Care AM is the Director of Care Collaborative Canberra, focused on strategic infrastructure advice, coaching and mentoring senior people in leadership and management skills, as well as developing high-performance business and project teams. He holds the position of Professor of Practice at UNSW Sydney, Deputy Chair ACT Government Board of Engineering Excellence and is also Chair of the international humanitarian response agencies RedR Australia and RedR International.

ISBN: 978 1 7642796 0 4
Published: 16 June 2026
Extent: 376 pages
Dimensions (mm): 185 x 270
Weight (kg): 1.9 kg