Listen Then Speak

What Happens when the Devil Emails at Midnight w/ Mita Mallick

Episode Notes

Interested in Launching your own Podcast?

Podcast Principles can help! Book a call below to learn more.

https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

On this episode of Listen Then Speak, I sit down with my friend (and repeat guest) Mita Mallick to talk about her new book, The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn from Bad Bosses. We get into the real workplace dynamics so many people quietly deal with: chaos, burnout, and “lethal loyalty”, and what it actually looks like to set boundaries without blowing up your career.

Mita shares how her upbringing as the daughter of Indian immigrant parents shaped the way she approached work, why “keep your head down and work hard” can backfire in modern corporate culture, and how bad bosses don’t just create stress, they create ripple effects that drain entire teams. We also unpack one of the book’s most memorable archetypes, “The White Rabbit” manager, and walk through practical ways to manage up, prioritize what’s urgent vs. important, and build a communication framework that protects your time and sanity.

If you’ve ever felt pressured to be available 24/7, struggled to advocate for yourself, or wondered how to lead well in a broken culture, this conversation is for you.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Introduction

0:53 - Meet Mita!

2:25 - Favorite genre of music

3:07 - Management, flexibility and being a role model

5:30 - The start of Mita’s career and how her parent’s culture informed it

12:06 - The ‘F’ word (family)

17:09 - The “white rabbit”

21:16 - “Managing up” with a ‘white rabbit’

27:07 - Getting over the fear of ‘managing up’

30:13 - Urgency exhaustion and guarding your true priorities

33:59 - Advice to service-based, or faith-based professionals