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The Devil Emails at Midnight

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The Devil Emails at Midnight

What Good Leaders Can Learn From Bad Bosses

Wiley,

15 min read
8 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

The behavior of bad bosses provides salient examples of what not to do. 

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Editorial Rating

9

getAbstract Rating

  • Eye Opening
  • Concrete Examples
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Author Mita Mallick candidly shares the worst tendencies of her former bosses. She contends that most were not terrible on purpose. Some were promoted to leadership with no management training, emulated their own awful bosses, or were so insecure or uncertain that they micromanaged. Good leaders do the opposite: learn continually, support and acknowledge their people’s work, and coach them through their challenges. Mallick’s nicknamed examples include the Devil, who communicates solely in late-night emails; the micromanaging Chopper, who looms over staff like a helicopter; and Gossip Girl, who reveals private information about her colleagues. Her stories, recounted from the perspective of a woman of color, have a worthwhile purpose: they illustrate leadership behaviors you want to be sure to avoid.

Summary

Bad bosses demonstrate the antithesis of good leadership and embody leadership behaviors to avoid.

Profiles of real-life, but anonymous, bad bosses demonstrate exactly what you don’t want to do as a leader. Individual bad bosses differ, but they may share certain behaviors. They micromanage, lose their temper, claim credit for others’ work, fail to acknowledge employees’ contributions, chip away at their confidence, invalidate their experiences, and undervalue them and their work.

For example, the Devil is a corporate executive who is too busy to communicate with her staff during the workday, so she sends her employees multiple emails as late as midnight or later. When author Mita Mallick was in grad school and worked as the Devil’s summer intern, the Devil was moving too fast to recognize her work or her humanity, though she often sent a barrage of late-night orders. If she had been a good leader, the Devil would’ve scheduled regular team meetings, organized quarterly or biennial off-sites, held skip-level meetings, and periodically shared coffee or lunch with small groups of team members. Leaders who resist spending time with their ...

About the Author

Management consultant and public speaker Mita Mallick is also the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace.

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