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Love, Happiness and Success with Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

How to Deal With a Bully Boss: Surviving and Healing From Toxic Workplaces | E472

Love, Happiness and Success with Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

YAP Media Network | Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Relationships, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7890 Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Have you ever had a boss who left you walking on eggshells, never sure what mood they’d bring into the office? Maybe they humiliated people in meetings, lashed out without warning, or drained you so much that you came home with nothing left for yourself. A bully boss can affect far more than your workday. In this episode, I’m talking with Mita Mallick, speaker, workplace strategist, coach, and bestselling author. She’s sharing stories from her own career and what she’s learned about surviving toxic leaders - from executives who throw shoes to managers who use “toxic positivity” as a weapon. Mita also offers strategies for spotting warning signs in an interview, building an exit plan that protects your career, and regaining your confidence once you’ve left. We also explore the patterns that keep people stuck in unhealthy workplaces: how old experiences can shape what we tolerate, why many of us think we can “outwork” a bad boss, and what it really takes to reclaim your well-being. Episode Breakdown: 00:00 How Toxic Jobs Affect Your Life 00:43 Meet Mita Mallick: Speaker, Strategist, and Author 01:22 Surviving Abuse from a Bully Boss 07:16 Workplace Trauma and Mental Health 18:02 How to Spot Red Flags in Job Interviews 28:34 Types of Toxic Bosses and Their Behaviors 38:25 Exit Strategies and Rebuilding Confidence If you’d like more support beyond this conversation, you’re welcome to schedule a free consultation with me or a member of my team. We can help you make thoughtful career decisions, strengthen boundaries, and protect your mental health at work. I also encourage you to check out Mita’s new book, The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn from Bad Bosses. You can connect with her directly on LinkedIn and Instagram to keep learning from her insights on leadership and workplace culture. And of course, you can always stay connected with me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, where I share weekly tips and encouragement. I’d love to hear your thoughts - your questions and feedback always help shape future episodes. Let’s talk! I also want to extend a big thank-you to Headway for sponsoring this episode. Headway helps me keep growing, even on the busiest days, by making it possible to learn from the world’s top books in just minutes. I use it every day. I truly love it, and I think you will too. Save 25% when you go to ⁠⁠makeheadway.com/lhs⁠⁠ and use the promo code LHS. Let’s keep learning and growing together. 🌱 xoxo, Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby Growing Self

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I have come to discover that a toxic job can create a toxic life.

0:06.5

I've seen it firsthand. I'm thinking about being short with my children, being too exhausted to engage with anyone, all of the emotions that I can't take out at work, taking out on my loved ones.

0:18.9

So, pop quiz.

0:22.6

Your boss throws a salad at your coworker.

0:26.7

Do you, A, duck for cover, B, quit on the spot, or C, shake the fetta crumbles out of your

0:34.5

hair and pretend like it didn't happen?

0:40.0

Well, hopefully you do not have to make any of those terrible choices. But in case you do, case you do, today's guest, Mita Malik,

0:47.5

has survived every kind of bad boss and she's here today to spill the survival strategies corporate HR will never tell you. Welcome

0:58.1

Mita. Oh, thank you, Dr. Lisa, so much for having me. I'm excited for our conversation today.

1:02.8

I am too. I mean, can we just start? Did your boss really throw a shoe at you?

1:09.2

Chanel shoe at my colleague, and it missed her.

1:12.3

And yeah, she did.

1:13.4

I mean, it was the first time in my life anyone had ever screamed at me.

1:16.5

I always say in the workplace, first time.

1:19.1

Screaming and throwing shoes.

1:22.1

Wow.

1:24.4

I mean, okay, of course, never acceptable, right? But like, give us a little bit of context. Was it like a sudden freak out? Was this a slow burn? Like, what the heck happened? So her name was Medusa and in the devil at midnight. What good leaders can learn from bad bosses? I nickname all the bosses, and I do that

1:44.3

for purpose. I've always nicknamed my bosses, particularly the bad ones, but it is to create emotional

1:49.0

distance from yourself. This was back in the day in the beauty industry, and she had one team of

1:57.6

12 people she was overseeing that team turned over. And then she went to lead another

2:02.9

team at this organization. And I was voluntold, wasn't asked. I was told, you have to go do this

2:09.1

assignment. And I worked for her. And over the course of the time, I worked for her, that team also

...

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