Game-Changing Leadership: Lessons from Black CEOs Every Executive Can Use

High-performing leaders often face a paradox: the same relentless drive that builds a thriving company can quietly weaken the foundation beneath it. For SMB CEOs, the tension between growth and sustainability isn’t theoretical; it’s the daily reality of leading through uncertainty, limited resources, and the constant pressure to do more with less.

In honor of Black History Month, we’re sharing 3 case studies featuring Black Vistage CEO members whose leadership journeys offer powerful lessons in resilience, clarity, and sustainable performance. Each faced a defining moment that forced them to rethink not only their business strategy but also their leadership approach.

Dr. Anton Bizzell realized he was treating symptoms rather than solving root problems — first in medicine, then in how he built his company. Rosalyn Merrick stepped into leadership during the pandemic, when her building emptied overnight and her team scattered. Ola Sage lost significant revenue in just 3 months while already running on fumes.

What connects their stories is a counterintuitive truth. Rather than intensity, sustainable high performance comes from leading with clarity, discipline, and intention. Their frameworks offer practical, time-tested answers to the questions CEOs wrestle with most, and a clearer path forward when the pressure feels endless.

Aligning Purpose with Performance

Dr. Anton Bizzell | Vistage Impact Award Winner 
President & CEO, Bizzell US 
Hyattsville, Maryland
Vistage member since 2022  

When Dr. Anton Bizzell, CEO of Bizzell US, treated patients at Howard University, he noticed a troubling pattern. Patients returned repeatedly with manageable conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and asthma, but the root causes remained unaddressed.

“I realized I was treating the symptoms of broken systems rather than the root causes of illness,” he recalls. This insight sparked his transition from physician to entrepreneur, founding a consulting firm focused on health education and the social determinants of health.

Today, Dr. Bizzell leads a thriving organization that operates globally, from supporting STEM programs for K-12 students to installing freshwater systems in impoverished African communities. His journey from bedside to boardroom offers a masterclass in building resilient, high-performance organizations.

Dr. Bizzell’s medical training shaped his leadership philosophy in unexpected ways. “In medicine, you’re trained to diagnose before you treat and understand systems before you intervene,” he explains. This disciplined approach prevents reactive decision-making and short-term fixes, two common pitfalls that derail many growing businesses.

When challenges arise, he resists the urge to intervene immediately. Instead, he asks 3 critical questions:

• What problem are we really solving?
• What happens if we do nothing?
• What capabilities does this decision require us to be honest about?

This framework has proven invaluable during crises such as pandemics, government shutdowns, and broader market turbulence. “Don’t abandon your structure in a crisis,” he advises. “Your structure matters most. Slow down your thinking, speed up your execution, but don’t confuse urgency with panic.”

Drawing on his experience, his most actionable advice for fellow CEOs is simple yet critical: build your systems before you think you need them. From the company’s inception, he established financial controls, human resources infrastructure, and clear accountability measures. “When you’re ready to scale up, if you don’t have those systems in place, it’s going to be noticeable,” he warns.

This principle extends to company culture, which Dr. Bizzell treats as an operating system rather than a slogan. He focuses on how decisions are made, how leaders behave when no one is watching and how to ensure clarity around performance, communication, and ownership.

Coming from an underserved community himself, Dr. Bizzell rejects the false choice between social impact and financial strength. “Just because you serve an underserved community doesn’t mean you’re going to lower your standards or sacrifice financial discipline,” he asserts. In fact, working in complex environments requires running a well-run organization to succeed.

“When you align your purpose with your performance, growth becomes a byproduct of doing meaningful work,” Dr. Bizzell notes. At its core, his approach to resilience is grounded in discipline, asking the same fundamental questions today as he did a decade ago. “Strategy isn’t about avoiding pain. It’s about choosing the right pain.”

3 Lessons for High-Performance Leadership

• Diagnose before acting. Get clear on the real problem, the cost of inaction, and required capabilities — urgency isn’t panic.
• Build systems early. Financial, HR, and accountability structures prevent friction from scaling.
• Align purpose and performance. Discipline and impact reinforce each other; culture is your operating system.

Building Habitats with Humility

Rosalyn Merrick | Vistage Leadership Award Winner
President & CEO, Atlanta Habitat for Humanity
Atlanta, Georgia
Vistage Member since 2022 

When Rosalyn Merrick joined Atlanta Habitat for Humanity as chief development officer in November 2020, the offices were empty, staff were dispersed, and the organization’s heartbeat — its volunteers — were largely limited to virtual engagement.

In the proverbial eye of the storm, Rosalyn picked up the phone.

She spent her first months calling top contributors and volunteers, not to fundraise, but to listen. What she heard from the organization’s most loyal supporters changed her approach to leadership entirely. “I’ve been so lonely,” one told her. “It wasn’t until I couldn’t be there, building with Habitat, that I realized how much joy and fulfillment it gave me.”

Today, as CEO of “one of Habitat for Humanity’s leading affiliates by production and impact in its 900+ affiliate global network, Merrick leads with vulnerability to accelerate performance. She learned the value of vulnerability by necessity. During the pandemic, every business call began with check-ins and an emphasis on genuine human connection, revealing a profound lesson.

“We all were vulnerable because we didn’t know what else to be,” Rosalyn reflects. “It was such a humanizing moment that I try to carry that forward.”

That transparency proved to be a strategic advantage. When Atlanta Habitat needed to shift from primarily volunteer-led construction to a hybrid model that also incorporated construction staff and subcontractors, Rosalyn involved stakeholders in designing the solution. By seeking advice rather than announcing decisions, she fostered ownership among those who would execute the change.

Rosalyn’s path to the CEO seat also tested her resilience. She didn’t land the permanent role immediately, despite serving as interim CEO and competing in the formal selection process. Some expected her to leave. Instead, she stepped in as chief operating officer.

“I chose this work,” she recalls telling her staff. “I chose this team because I know how much this mission matters to all of us, and I know we can expand its impact, together.”

Leading one of Habitat for Humanity International’s largest independent affiliates while serving the Atlanta region with a focus on affordable homeownership means navigating constant pressure among funding opportunities, market trends, and stakeholder expectations—particularly in a rapidly changing housing market.

Rosalyn keeps focus through her crystal-clear vision that Atlanta Habitat centers its work on affordable homeownership as a pathway to stability and legacy.

That vision is more than aspirational for Rosalyn; it’s a decision-making filter. When opportunities arise, she asks, “How is this relevant to where we’re ultimately trying to go?”

For CEOs navigating uncertainty, Rosalyn suggests acknowledging the hard things out loud, involving people in solutions and staying ruthlessly focused on vision.

“Name what is stirring right now so we can deal with it and then deal with the real matter at hand,” she advises. That honesty creates speed, cutting through resistance to reach productive decisions faster.

3 Tips for High-Level Leadership

• Use vulnerability with intent. Be honest about hard realities to build trust and momentum.
• Let vision guide choices. A clear purpose filters opportunities and sharpens focus.
• Build belonging to drive performance. When people feel seen and valued, confidence, retention, and results follow.

Evolving from ‘Fire’ to ‘Focus’

Ola Sage | Vistage Chair since 2019
CEO, CyberRx 
Silver Spring, Maryland
Joined Vistage in 2007

Ola Sage’s journey into entrepreneurship was unintentional. In 1999, her goal was simply to consult. But when her employer won a recompete for a major government contract and needed her to lead it, she suddenly found herself running a fledgling business with four employees, no business plan, and a steep learning curve.

“I was leading by fire,” she recalls. “Whatever needed to be done, I did it.” Working 7 days a week. Recruiting her brother to work with her. Learning as she went.

For high-performing CEOs like Sage, the warning signs of burnout often hide behind relentless drive and commitment. And in her case, they came to a head when her IT professional services company lost significant revenue in just 3 months due to government budget cuts, forcing her to cut 20% of her workforce almost overnight. The crisis demanded everything she had. The problem was, she’d already been giving everything she had for years.

That moment became a turning point for Sage, not just in how she ran her business, but in how she thought about leadership itself. Through self-study, joining Vistage, and building a network of peers, Sage developed a leadership philosophy centered on a deceptively simple question: What’s Important Now? The WIN framework, which Greg McKeown captured in his book, “Essentialism,” became foundational to her leadership approach.

“Sometimes what was important now was just getting through the day,” she says. “Sometimes it was creating a list of 20 action items and figuring out which 3 were absolutely essential. Sometimes it was taking a nap.”

This focus on the essentials extended beyond crisis management. Leading her first company, Sage tried to do everything from enterprise architecture to software development to network engineering. “Jack of all trades, master of none,” she reflects. But when she launched her second company, CyberRx, she deliberately chose to forgo other potential revenue streams and focus on excellence in one area, challenging her lifelong equation of quitting with failure.

Now, Ola operates from a place of “intention,” guided by clear questions. Am I meeting my standard of excellence? Am I sleeping well? Am I spending time with people who matter?

Today, she guides other leaders as a Vistage Chair of 3 executive groups and CEO of 2 businesses. But Sage says her greatest evolution has been internal. “I’ve transitioned from leader-coach to coach-leader. It’s less about me solving their problems and more about coaching them into how to do it themselves.”

3 Lessons for High Performance

• Master the art of essentialism. Identify what’s important in the short and long-term and prioritize the 3 absolutely essential items over the myriad of others that seem urgent. Sometimes the most important thing is taking a nap.
• Focus beats breadth. Trying to do everything makes you a master of none. Choose one thing to do exceptionally well rather than spreading resources thin.
• Know when to quit. Quitting isn’t failure when it protects your health, standards, and relationships. Look for indicators like sleep quality, joy in your work, and time with loved ones to make strategic exit decisions.

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