20/04/2026
As You Rise: Leadership Matters: Sustaining Leadership Beyond the Title from the Top by Mizinga Melu is truly a gift from her to the corporate world as she uses her own journey to provide real life lessons in the corporate world.
Here are some of the core lessons I gained after reading this great book.
1. Getting the title isn’t the win, keeping it long enough matters.
Too many people reach top roles then leave before real change sticks. The goal is sustaining leadership so you can deliver impact.
2. Resilience is non-negotiable.
From corporate politics, having your skills questioned and being the only woman in the room (outlier). She frames resilience as the muscle that lets you stay when it gets hard.
3. Lead with emotional intelligence.
Know yourself, read the room, manage relationships. EI is what keeps teams with you during tough calls and change.
4. Adaptability beats rigidity.
Markets, regulators and cultures shift, especially across African subsidiaries. Leaders who survive embrace change instead of defending comfort.
5. Stay anchored to your values.
Power tests integrity. Melu stresses faith, ethics, and “staying true to one’s values” as the guardrail when pressure hits.
6. Mindful, purposeful leadership.
Leadership should be deliberate, not reactive. She connects to “mindfulness” as applying original thinking to add value and achieve sustainable outcomes for all stakeholders.
7. Push beyond comfort to grow.
Real success requires discomfort. Her own path, from low ranking jobs in the bank to CEO, failing nursing school twice, being denied roles, models that setbacks are training for bigger rooms
8. Priotize self care.
Invest in your physical and mental well being to maintain peak performance and lewd effectively.
9. Build and use your support system.
You don’t stay at the top alone. Mentors, family, faith and professional networks matter. She credits encouragement from family when she almost stayed in a low ranking job.
10. Think legacy, not just tenure.
Her lens on leadership is about the mark you leave. That means governance, stakeholder trust and empowering others. She founded When Females Lead to build young women.
Thank you for this great book Mizinga Melu
