Mita Mallick: Bad Bosses Have Much To Teach Us

 

 

What’s worse than a boss who emails you at midnight, demanding instant replies?

How about one who calls you “Mohammed” instead of your real name, Madhumita, or another who expects you to dive back into work just days after your father’s sudden death. Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, Mita Mallick has faced these and 10 other toxic manager archetypes in her career, and brings them all to life in her new book, “The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Leaders Can Learn from Bad Bosses.”

As former Head of Inclusion, Equity, and Impact at Carta and Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Unilever, Mita joins our podcast with hard-earned lessons drawn from navigating a gauntlet of workplace dysfunction. Her stories are both stupefying and instructive, from bosses who ruled by fear to those whose micromanaging stifled creativity.

During our conversation, I ask Mita whether we learn more from our worst bosses or our best?” One thing for certain is that too many workplace managers are blind to the behaviors that undermine trust, make people feel disrespected — and even quit because they are so undermining. Hearing Mita’s stories is amusing, but they also teach us about building stronger, more inclusive teams.

Mita exposes why toxic behaviors like bullying (1 in 2 workers has faced or witnessed it) or relentless email barrages take root in organizations. She unpacks the most damaging archetypes and why companies tolerate them, offering leaders strategies to replace chaos with cultures of respect and collaboration.

It should be obvious that no one wants to respond to emails at midnight, but to many a leader, apparently it isn’t.

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