Must read exposé of the 13 types of bad bosses to help you become a better leader
In The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn From Bad Bosses, Mita Mallick shares how bad bosses aren't born. Bad bosses are made. They are a product of their circumstances. She shares hilarious and heartbreaking stories of the 13 bad bosses she once endured and survived, even including when she was a bad boss in her career. She challenges both current and aspiring leaders to avoid the pitfalls of bad boss behavior.
With powerful storytelling and practical advice, she covers bad behaviors like:
-Never having time for our teams (except at midnight) -Micromanaging and re-doing all of our team’s work -Being completely disengaged, and disinterested in leading -Ruling with fear in hopes of driving business results -Loving the spotlight and taking credit for all of the work and much, much more
The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn From Bad Bosses is a must read guide on how not to become that bad boss for anyone on their journey to be a better leader. Mita reminds us that a good leader can be the difference maker: ensuring we are recognized and valued for our contributions in our organizations. So remember that the devil emails at midnight. Let's make sure that devil doesn't become you.
Mita Mallick is a change maker with a track record of transforming culture and business. She gives innovative, culturally-resonant ideas a voice and serves customers and communities with purpose. She’s had an extensive career as a multicultural marketer in the beauty and consumer goods space, being a fierce advocate for including and representing Black and Brown communities. Her first book, “Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace” is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best seller. Her highly anticipated second book "The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn from Bad Bosses" comes out September 30, 2025.
Her passion for inclusive storytelling led her to become a Chief Diversity Officer, building end-to-end ecosystems across big and small organizations and future proofing brands for today’s dynamic environment. Mallick has brought her talent and expertise to companies such as Carta, Unilever, Pfizer, AVON, Johnson & Johnson and more. She’s a sought after speaker and coach to start-up founders, executives and public CEOs.
Mallick is a LinkedIn Top Voice with over 189,000 followers. She was named to the Thinkers50 Radar List. She is a frequent contributor for Harvard Business Review, Adweek, Entrepreneur and Fast Company on a range of cultural, corporate and marketing topics. Mallick has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, Forbes, Axios, Essence, Cosmopolitan Magazine in Business Insider. She was featured in a documentary created by Soledad O’Brien Productions titled: Women in the Workplace and the Unfinished Fight for Equality. Mallick holds a B.A. from Barnard College, Columbia University and an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
goal? practical ways to spot harmful leadership patterns early, understand the damage they trigger, and respond with tools that restore momentum and fairness
notes: - If late hours are real, set expectations on response times and time zones, use delayed send, and bundle requests with context, a clear ask, and a deadline. - Keep boundaries by reviewing your calendar every couple of months and using a simple trade: nothing new without removing something old. - on the disengaged boss: active disengagement spreads fast. High performers start plotting exits, cross-functional partners lose trust, and the team carries the load without guidance. Many let it ride – performance management feels heavy, leaders hope they’ll leave, wait for a restructuring, worry about job security, or point to surface wins as proof nothing’s wrong. Delay compounds the damage. - To avoid becoming the napper yourself, watch early signals – boredom, fading curiosity, withdrawal, skipped meetings, Monday dread. If they show up, meet your manager, name what must change, and check for burnout. - request blunt feedback from your team about where you over-touch. Also be honest about fit: if coaching drains you and building does the opposite, consider an individual contributor track where excellence is impact, not oversight. - If you’re working under a fear-based boss, protect yourself while you plan your path. Document incidents and instructions, turn hallway ambushes into brief agenda-based check-ins, and confirm expectations in writing. Build allies who help you stay visible for the right reasons, explore transfers, and keep a realistic exit plan if the pattern persists. - rarer type: kindness masking incompetence
Bad Bosses…we’ve all had at least one. Most of us, if we are lucky, only have to deal with it once, move along to our next job and hope we never have to deal with him or her again. But what if we took the time to think about what exactly it was that made that boss so horrible? As the author points out, bad bosses aren’t just born this way, they are a product of many things. By studying them we can avoid becoming one ourselves and end the cycle.
Rather than your typical leadership guidebook, TDEAM walks us through the author’s experiences with bad bosses, both male and female, that she encountered throughout her career, but with a sense of humor. We meet The Sheriff, the Grinner, the Devil herself, and my “favorite” Tony Soprano (just a few, there are more).The experiences range from the incompetent to the outright abusive, but always with a sense of wit and compassion. In each case, she takes a step back and evaluates the with insight that time, distance and experience as a leader provide. Finally she reveals when she herself became one of the bad bosses she despised, as a warning to us all. It can happen to any of us if we aren’t careful. I gasped, I laughed out loud and I cried. This has something for everyone
Quick and easy read. I enjoy the writing style and introspective view. I’m very hard on myself as a leader and the examples in this book made me proud of the way I’ve managed teams. It was fun (in a weird way) to think of all my past bosses and categorize them. I received this through a Goodreads giveaway and am so glad I did, as I’m not sure I would have known of it otherwise.
"The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn From Bad Bosses" by Mita Mallick is a practical, sharply observed exploration of how everyday leadership habits shape workplace culture - for better or worse. Rather than focusing on dramatic scandals or extreme villains, the book examines familiar boss archetypes whose behaviors quietly drain teams, distort incentives, and push talented people out the door. Mallick’s core argument is simple but powerful: leadership failure usually isn’t about bad intentions or lack of charisma, but about repeated, predictable patterns in how time, attention, power, and credit are handled.
The book walks through a series of damaging leadership styles, beginning with the chronically unavailable manager who 'leads' through late-night emails. This boss replaces real connection with after-hours messages stripped of context, skips one-on-ones, and treats busyness as a badge of honor. While work still gets done, teams absorb the cost through confusion, overload, and eroding trust. Mallick shows how this style turns leadership into a one-way transaction and gradually convinces employees they are invisible unless something is urgently broken.
Another archetype is the actively disengaged boss - the leader who naps through meetings, checks out mentally, and openly signals indifference to the job. This disengagement spreads quickly, lowering standards and pushing high performers to leave while others quietly carry the leadership load. The book makes clear that no perk or policy can compensate for a leader who has emotionally exited; what matters most is daily presence, curiosity, and accountability.
Mallick also dissects micromanagement, portraying it not as concern for quality but as a system built on control and fear of mistakes. Hovering managers bottleneck decisions, redo work, and mistake constant involvement for productivity. The result is predictable: morale drops, judgment weakens, and teams stop taking initiative. Across these chapters, the message is consistent - leaders who focus on outcomes instead of constant oversight create faster, healthier organizations.
One of the most damaging patterns explored is fear-based leadership. These bosses rely on intimidation, public humiliation, and volatility to extract short-term compliance. While such leaders are often tolerated because they 'get results,' the book shows how fear shuts down communication, kills creativity, and leads to burnout and turnover. Mallick is especially clear-eyed about how organizations enable this behavior by excusing it as toughness or temporary pressure, even as the long-term costs mount.
The book also tackles less obvious but equally corrosive styles, such as the kind but incompetent boss. These leaders are likable and well-intentioned, but lack the skills to run meetings, set priorities, or evaluate performance. Their teams compensate by doing the real work behind the scenes, often at the expense of their own growth. Mallick highlights how likability can mask poor leadership and delay necessary corrections.
Finally, she examines the credit-stealing 'spotlight' boss, who absorbs recognition while pushing the real contributors into the background. This behavior warps performance reviews, stalls careers, and steadily erodes motivation. The damage isn’t just emotional - it directly affects who gets promoted, funded, and trusted.
What unifies these stories is Mallick’s insistence that these patterns are visible, learnable, and fixable. Leadership is shown as a set of daily behaviors rather than a personality trait. The book balances empathy for why people fall into these habits with clarity about the harm they cause. It also speaks to readers on both sides of the power line: those leading teams today and those navigating difficult bosses while protecting their own careers.
The central takeaway of "The Devil Emails at Midnight" is that good leadership is built through intentional use of time, attention, and credit. When leaders show up consistently, communicate clearly, share power, and recognize real contributors, teams thrive. When they don’t, even well-meaning environments slowly corrode. By learning from bad bosses rather than normalizing them, the book argues, leaders can build workplaces where people don’t have to bend their lives around dysfunction just to get good work done.
The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn From Bad Bosses by Mita Mallick
Thank you to BookHighlight for the gifted copy.
Mita Mallick delivers an insightful and witty look at leadership through the lens of her own experiences with bad bosses, and the times she found herself slipping into those same habits. The Devil Emails at Midnight isn’t your typical management manual; it’s a self-aware, story-driven guide that blends humor, honesty, and humility.
Each of the “13 bad bosses” she profiles feels instantly recognizable; from the micromanager to the glory hog, yet her approach is never cruel. Instead, Mallick shows how good intentions, poor self-awareness, or toxic environments can slowly turn decent leaders into devils of their own making.
What makes this book stand out is her balance of personal storytelling and practical insight. It’s engaging, sharp, and full of moments that make you pause and reflect on your own leadership habits. Whether you’ve led teams for decades or just started managing others, there’s value here in every chapter.
• A sharp, relatable reminder that leadership is a daily choice, not a title • Perfect blend of vulnerability, humor, and wisdom
A fast, meaningful read that lingers, not because it preaches, but because it reminds us that anyone can become “the devil” if they stop listening, learning, and leading with empathy.
Mita Mallick’s When The Devil Emails at Midnight is more than a leadership book—it’s a reckoning. With sharp storytelling and emotional intelligence, Mallick names the toxic archetypes many of us have endured: the Ghost Boss, the Credit Thief, the Midnight Emailer.
For me, that last one hit hard. I’ve received those emails. I’ve worked under the micromanager whose feedback was constant and critical, and I’ve heard stories of leaders who wielded termination as a thrill, not a responsibility.
Mallick doesn’t just expose dysfunction—she models the antidote. Vulnerability, accountability, and boundary-setting become tools for transformation. Her reminder that “setting boundaries isn’t just self-care—it’s leadership” reframes how we think about power, presence, and professionalism.
This is a must-read for HR leaders, managers, and anyone committed to building workplaces that are inclusive, resilient, and human-centered.
We’ve all had that boss: the midnight emailer, the micromanager, the credit-taker disguised as a “collaborator.” In The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn From Bad Bosses, Mita Mallick names the bosses we wish we’d never had—and she shows us how not to become them. Incisive yet empathetic in tone, the book validates those of us who have survived “the devil,” and equips leaders who want to do better with the knowledge they need.
Mallick roasts bad bosses (rightfully so), but also helps us understand how toxic systems create them, and, importantly, how to break the cycle. With refreshing honesty, she even shares the missteps she herself has made as a people manager.
The Devil Emails at Midnight is essential for any leader who is serious about being a good people manager. In a culture where poor management is often excused, Mallick reminds us that the best leaders may not be flawless, but if they choose growth over ego they’ll ensure that they’re never the boss everyone loves to hate, or the devil who’s firing off emails at midnight.
The Devil Emails at Midnight is a clever, darkly funny, and surprisingly insightful story that blends modern technology with classic supernatural mischief. The book follows an ordinary protagonist whose late-night emails from a mysterious sender begin as harmless curiosities but quickly spiral into eerie encounters, moral dilemmas, and unsettling truths about temptation, desire, and personal responsibility.
The author balances suspense and humor well, using sharp dialogue and relatable modern settings to make the supernatural elements feel both chilling and believable. The pacing is brisk, the twists are satisfying, and beneath the eerie premise lies a deeper commentary on how easily small choices—and small digital interactions—can snowball into life-altering consequences.
Part thriller, part satire, and part moral fable, The Devil Emails at Midnight is an engaging read for fans of dark humor, supernatural fiction, and character-driven stories that linger in the mind long after the final page.
Great Read! Turn Bad Boss Lessons into Better Leadership
The Devil Emails at Midnight is a clear and engaging guide to better leadership. It’s delightfully written with great stories, research and practical tips.
We meet 13 bad bosses through the employee’s perspective, and the author shows exactly how those behaviors harm teams. Each chapter links the story to research, then closes with practical steps leaders can use to stop or avoid the problem. The structure makes it easy to scan, reflect, and apply.
I recognized a few of my own past habits in these pages, and I suspect most readers will too. That honesty is the point. This book invites reflection without shame and turns it into action. Strongly recommended for aspiring or current leaders who want to learn from poor examples and become better leaders ourselves.
The Devil Emails at Midnight is a valuable read for anyone in a leadership position. No one starts out as a manager knowing exactly what to do, and Mita Mallick offers a refreshingly honest, often humorous look at the kinds of missteps and blind spots that can happen along the way.
What makes this book so effective is that it provides both good and bad examples of leadership in action. By showing what not to do, Mallick gives readers a chance to reflect on their own behavior and learn from others’ mistakes before repeating them.
This isn’t just a book for managers, though. It also offers practical insight into what it means to be a good teammate and collaborator—how to communicate effectively, build trust, and support others while maintaining accountability.
I bought this book the moment it came out and I haven't stopped recommending it since. Mita's storytelling is hilarious, heartbreaking, and so relatable - I found myself nodding along and cringing at memories of my own bad bosses (and moments when I (unintentionally!) was the bad boss!).
If you've ever worked for someone who only emailed at midnight, took credit for your work, or micromanaged every detail, this book will validate your experience. And if you're a leader (or want to be one), it'll help you make sure you don't become that person :)
I went with 4 stars but really it’s more like 3.5. It was an easy read. However by bad boss 11 I start to question the author and how bad all these bosses really were. I mean, she seemed to bounce from one to another so one must question, really?? Does she have that bad of luck or have I just been lucky enough to only encounter a few in my 25 years?
I think people will like this book, but for me, it felt like a laundry list of bad bosses (and she does have a few that are a doozy!), but I really wanted to know actionable steps to deal with these bosses, or how to encourage them to greatness elsewhere. How can we work with HR to correct action rather than just put up and shut up or work around them?
Great writing and funny stories. They reminded me of a striving, incompetent boss I had many years ago. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone managing others and looking to avoid common mistakes and tropes.
This books had a very interesting concept and was good until chapter 7. This is when the authors biases started to shine through. The authors biases became a distraction for me and no the book unreadable toward the end. I really wanted to like this book especially because it started so well.
Equal parts hilarious and sobering, relevant stories and practical advice, she turns painful lessons into a must read guide for anyone who wants to lead better.