What Great Leaders Learn From Flawed Leadership with Author Mita Mallick

In this episode of The Heidrick & Struggles Leadership Podcast, host Christina Cary welcomes back Mita Mallick, bestselling author, workplace strategist, and seasoned marketing and HR executive, for an honest conversation about leadership.

Mita shares lessons from her new book, The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn from Bad Bosses. Drawing from her own experiences with toxic and dysfunctional leaders, she explores how poor leadership behaviors often develop from market pressures, emotional exhaustion, or lack of self-awareness.

She shares her firsthand experiences working under difficult managers—who used fear and intimidation to boost short-term performance, and another whose “toxic positivity” held the team back.

Mita highlights the importance of leading through coaching instead of control while encouraging leaders to set clear expectations, focus on what truly matters, and communicate the reasoning behind their decisions.

If you’ve ever dealt with a bad boss or worry you’re becoming one, this episode is a must-listen.

Tune in now!


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Key Takeaways:

Introduction (00:00)
Meet Mita Mallick (01:13)
Three patterns of bad boss behavior (02:26)
The Story of Medusa: toxic leadership through fear (03:43)
Mita’s realization of her own bad boss behaviors (05:59)
The danger of “toxic positivity” in leadership (08:31)
How leaders can support peers without overstepping (11:00)
Vulnerability and feedback as leadership growth tools (12:25)


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Additional Resources:

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