Dancing With The Devil!

Working with one of my clients as her Business Coach, helping to stitch together her broken confidence, post exiting her role after what can only be described as a witch hunt led by her line manager. Ugly doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Here’s the twist: during the interview process, she walked away from her second and third meetings with this individual feeling energised, focused, and genuinely excited. The line manager came across as supportive, dynamic, and—dare I say—like the kind of leader you’d want to follow into battle.

Fast forward a few months and the mask slipped. What emerged was someone devious, mercurial, and frankly, a devil in a blue dress! One day warm and charming, the next cold and cutting. Twice my client was asked to do something blatantly unethical. Twice she refused. The punishment? Radio silence, professional isolation, and eventually, termination without cause.

When I later looked at that old spoof family photo with the demon relative standing proudly amongst the humans, I couldn’t help but laugh. Because really—that’s what this was. In the interview, you meet the charming “family portrait.” But lurking just outside the frame is the real character you’ll be reporting into.

So, here’s MC voice from behind the curtain: most of us check out the organisation before we join – do some digging or due diligence, if you will - friends, contacts, glass door, the net etc - the brand, the culture, maybe even the leadership team. But very few of us do deep, forensic due diligence on the one person we’ll actually be reporting into. And that, folks, is where the devil hides!

Do your homework. Ask around. Probe deeper. The company may look like a respectable family portrait—but you might just find yourself reporting to the one with horns!

Comments welcomed, as always…

MC