Made for This: Lessons in Leadership, Legacy, and Living Unapologetically

In a leadership landscape often dominated by detached, formulaic frameworks, DeAngela Burns-Wallace’s Made for This becomes an important statement that blends her personal story with leadership principles to assert that the most durable leadership is built at the intersection of service, identity, and community. Burns-Wallace’s argument that leaders should be the catalysts for systemic change, and not merely individual heroes, forms the main thesis of her book. She cleverly shows readers that true influence can only be measured by the access we create for others and the structures we leave behind. She uses her remarkable trajectory that spans university administration, the Foreign Service, Stanford admissions, and a cabinet-level role as Kansas Secretary of Administration to illustrate her philosophy through powerful, lived anecdotes rather than theories. Whether recounting anecdotes such as her refusal to let Capitol housekeeping staff be invisible during COVID-19 or the lesson from Ambassador Susan Rice on taking her seat at the table, Burns-Wallace grounds her leadership philosophy in humanity.

Made for This delivers a clear, practical takeaway: as a leader, build intentional “circles of support,” lead with the conviction that your identity is an asset, not an obstacle, and design a system that thrives on equity. I was fascinated by the crisp writing, the short sentences, and the author’s ability to effortlessly infuse anecdotes with leadership lessons. Her unapologetic centering of Black womanhood within the economics of power historically closed to it was exciting to read. Burns-Wallace discusses her setbacks, including burnout, divorce, and the necessity of an “intentional pause,” with honesty and offers a rare, necessary candor in leadership literature. This book sits well on the shelf alongside works like Michelle Obama’s Becoming and Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead. It is unique in its sharp focus on the politics of race, class, and gender, and its examination of public-sector ecosystems that affect women of color in particular. Burns-Wallace redefines leadership not as the absence of fragility, but as the courage to remain rooted, resilient, and relentlessly focused on lifting others as you climb.