The Devil Emails at Midnight

2The Boss Who Didn't Want to Call Me by My Name … So He Renamed Me Mohammed

When I first started out in my career, I never anticipated that the bullies from the playgrounds and classrooms would follow me into Corporate America. That they would be there, patiently waiting for me. In the cubicles, on Zoom, in the conference rooms. Casually hanging out by the coffee bar, first to show up at the happy hour, and always lurking around, ready to pounce in the hallways.

And that the bully, who would push you off the tire swing at the neighborhood park to claim their spot, wearing a big smile, could end up one day being your boss.

After I parted ways with the Devil that summer, a few years later, I encountered the first of several bad bully bosses I would end up working for. The memory of that very first bad bully boss lingers and lingers and lingers. Even after you have experienced and survived more bad bully bosses, you never forget the very first time you are bullied in Corporate America.

Enter the Sheriff.

With many of these bad bosses, I wasn't the first to uncover their reputation for being bad. In a number of cases, someone before me had survived them and nicknamed them before I had a chance to. So, I can't take any credit for the naming of the Sheriff.

I had never met anyone quite as tall as the Sheriff. His height helped him keep tabs of the comings and goings of everything that happened in the office, beyond just our division. He was so tall he could easily look over high ...