In this episode of The WorkWell Podcast™, Jen Fisher speaks with Mita Mallick, leadership expert and author of "The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn from Bad Bosses." Mita shares powerful stories from her own experiences with toxic leadership and reveals how she learned to recognize—and address—her own bad boss behaviors.
Episode Highlights:
- The origin story behind the provocative title and how a flooded childhood home led to discovering a "burn book" of bad bosses
- 13 types of toxic bosses including "The Sheriff" who refused to learn her name and renamed her "Mohammed," and "Medusa" who ruled through fear and public humiliation
- The three moments when bad boss behavior emerges: external marketplace stress, absorbing behaviors from your own bad boss, and personal life catastrophes
- Why bad bosses aren't born, they're made and how grief, trauma, and unprocessed emotions show up in leadership
- The midnight email phenomenon and why normalizing around-the-clock work expectations is unsustainable and counterproductive
- How fear-based leadership drives short-term results but destroys long-term productivity through turnover, disengagement, and organizational damage
- The shame and power dynamics that keep people trapped in toxic workplace relationships
- Self-reflection strategies for recognizing your own bad boss behaviors including career journaling and asking for coaching (not feedback)
- The importance of vulnerability in leadership and creating psychological safety for teams to discuss grief, personal struggles, and workplace challenges
Quotable Moments:
"Names were given to us by someone who had big hopes and dreams for us. Let that sit in. That's who someone named you. And so think about the promise of what your life is to be. And someone can't respect you by saying your name correctly." - Mita Mallick
"Your culture becomes defined by the worst behavior you tolerate." - Mita Mallick
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