These are the 13 types of terrible bosses — and how to avoid becoming one, according to a work strategist

Mita Mallick.Courtesy of Mita MallickA former executive identified 13 bad boss types based on real experiences — including her own.In her forthcoming book, Mita Mallick says each boss archetype comes with a fixable leadership flaw.Bad bosses are made — but with self-awareness, you can unmake one, she says.You might think you're a good boss — supportive, fair, and hardworking. But what if you're the reason your team dreads Monday?That's the uncomfortable question former Unilever and Johnson & Johnson marketing executive Mita Mallick asks in her forthcoming book, "The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn from Bad Bosses.""Bad bosses aren't born bad. Bad bosses are made," Mallick, who worked at Unilever until 2020, told Business Insider.The title nods to one of her first bosses, a manager whose communication style was to send barrages of emails at midnight. Spoiler alert: that's probably not a great idea.The book outlines 13 bad boss archetypes — from the micromanager to the credit thief, the chaos agent to the fearmonger. All, Mallick argues, can be changed if leaders are willing to be honest with themselves.1. The devil who emails at midnightDuring a summer internship, Mallick's boss barely interacted with her in person. Instead, she sent midnight email barrages with urgent tasks and no context. Mallick started replying out of fear.Mallick said she had just two 15-minute meetings with her across an entire 11-week internship.She recommends auditing your calendar to make space for your team during business hours. If you work late, use scheduled send — and be clear that responses can wait until morning.2. The boss who gives unwanted nicknamesThis manager renamed Mallick "Mohammed" because her real name, Madhumita, was "too hard." Others joined in. Mallick eventually quit.She advises learning and using people's names correctly and fostering team norms that call out microaggressions early. Don't make colleagues do the emotional labor of explaining why it hurt.3. The napperThis boss routinely slept in meetings, delegated everything, and gossiped about how much he hated his job. He was actively disengaged, yet inexplicably tolerated by leadership.Mallick says leaders should be proactive about disengagement, whether it's their own or someone else's. Her "be a mirror" framework involves giving feedback, creating space for honesty, and building an improvement plan with clear accountability.4. The chopperThis boss insisted on being cc'd on every email, nitpicked minor formatting, and constantly redid her team's work, even when it didn't need redoing.Mallick warns micromanagement erodes trust. Instead, she recommends focusing on outcomes, coaching through mistakes, and resisting the urge to hover. Ask yourself: Is this about quality or control?5. The white rabbitThis boss turned every task into a crisis. Urgent huddles, moving deadlines, and panic-driven chaos became the norm.Mallick recommends defining urgency explicitly. Her framework — Define, Prioritize, Protect — helps leaders keep focus and avoid burning out their teams with fake fire drills.6. 'Medusa'This boss screamed at staff, berated people for salad orders, and once hurled a designer shoe at a colleague."Fear kills communication, trust, and innovation," Mallick writes. She urges leaders to stop equating intensity with authority and instead create safe spaces where people feel heard and respected.7. The great pretenderAfter Mallick announced her pregnancy, she described how this manager reassigned her projects, denied her opportunities, and sent constant "quick asks" while she was on leave — all while promoting herself as an ally to working moms.She advises asking team members what they need — don't assume. "Protective" behaviors rooted in bias often sideline ambitious employees.8. The grinnerThis boss, Mallick said, was beloved, kind, cheerful, always smiling. But he was utterly incompetent, per Mallick.He had no idea what to do on the job and outsourced everything to his team.Mallick stresses that kindness isn't a substitute for competence. If you're in over your head, ask for help, get trained, or reconsider whether managing people is right for you.9. The cheerleaderThis boss was relentlessly positive and used that positivity to deny reality. He ignored challenges and set impossible goals, then blamed the team when they missed them.Mallick recommends replacing "toxic positivity" with grounded optimism. Validate struggles. Don't ask people to smile through setbacks — support them through solutions.10. 'Gossip Girl'Mallic said this boss shared confidential information, spread rumors about team members, and used gossip to maintain power.Mallick was eventually accused of saying something she hadn't, and nearly lost a key workplace friendship over it."Just don't engage," she advises. Set norms that shut gossip down and build a culture of transparency where people feel seen without backchanneling.11. The spotlight stealerThis manager plagiarized teamwork, lifted Mallick's entire self-review, and asked her to email his boss with fabricated praise.She advises letting people present their own work. "Good leaders share the spotlight," she writes. "Bad bosses steal it."12. 'Tony Soprano'When Mallick explored internal opportunities, her boss accused her of betrayal. He called her a "rat," tried to block her transfer, and forced her to quit to escape him."You don't own your team," she writes. Leaders must support growth, not punish ambition. Let people go when they're ready to grow.13. The grieving bossMallick's most personal story: after her father died, she became inconsistent, emotionally distant, and reactive — everything she had warned others about.She said that when a team member quit, it was a wake-up call.She recommends being honest when you're not OK. Take time off. Set expectations. Grief doesn't excuse bad leadership, but ignoring it can create more harm.Read the original article on Business Insider

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