Tall Poppy Theory™
A research-informed decision framework for high-performing women navigating workplace bullying, harassment, targeting, and retaliation
47% of women whose responses became visible and attributable were fired within 12 months
The issue was not only whether they chose to exit, speak up, stay, or disengage.
The issue was how visible and traceable their response became before identity, timing, and leverage were protected.
New research shows how response visibility may change career risk when standard workplace advice fails
See how visible your current situation may already be and where the impact is showing up.
How Response Visibility Changes Risk
In this research, visibility matters:
overt (identity visible and attributable) vs.
covert (identity not immediately visible and attributable)
Presenting Research at the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment (IAWBH) 2026 Conference - Canberra, Australia
The moment I knew
“I thought it was a misunderstanding until colleagues pulled me aside. Then meetings stopped, whispers started, and I realised I was the target.”
Director of Public Policy, UK
HR was not confidential
“HR said it would be confidential. Within days the bully knew, allies turned cold, and every mistake was documented. I became the problem overnight.”
Bioengineer Lead, Australia
Protecting my identity
"I stopped feeding them information; they were using it against me. The pressure lifted a bit when I moved quietly and kept my plans to myself."
EVP Marketing, United States
You do not need more opinions. You need a clearer view of where you stand.
Clearer decisions start with knowing where you stand. The 5-minute assessment measures the impact of workplace targeting across six areas of your life. In 18 questions, you will see where the situation may already be affecting your work, reputation, health, finances, relationships, and sense of self.
Private. Research-informed. Built for women who are finished guessing.
The Framework
The Tall Poppy Theory™
There is an old saying: the tallest poppy gets cut first.
At work, it often looks like this: the women who deliver the most, raise the standards, and become highly visible may become targets because their competence changes the power balance.
The Tall Poppy Theory focuses on the moment after a woman realizes what is happening. It does not ask why bullying exists or how organizations should prevent it. It asks a more urgent question:
What changes the risk profile once institutional protection can no longer be assumed?
The data points to a counterintuitive pattern: outcome differences were more strongly associated with response visibility than with pathway choice alone. The question was not just what path a woman chose. It was whether the organization could see and attribute that response to her before she was ready.
The assessment helps you see where the impact is showing up and what may need attention first.
The distinction is not silence versus speaking up.
The distinction is overt versus covert visibility.
Pilot Study
What the Research Revealed
A mixed-methods study of high-performing women across six countries and multiple sectors revealed a pattern that challenges much of the conventional advice given to workplace bullying targets.
Participants pursued a range of response pathways. Some used formal channels. Some chose to leave. Some stayed. No single pathway guaranteed a good outcome.
One factor repeatedly organized the outcome differences in this sample: whether the response became visible to the organization and attributable to the target.
Execution visibility was more strongly associated with outcome differences than pathway choice alone.
Responses that became visible and attributable through formal channels were associated with higher rates of retaliation, isolation, and career damage in this sample.
The finding does not mean the complaints lacked merit. It means that once a response became visible and attributable, the risk profile changed.
Lower-visibility responses were associated with lower rates of career, reputation, and wellbeing damage across the comparison groups.
This research does not argue for silence. It shows that visibility, timing, identity protection, and leverage changed the risk attached to each response pathway.
This research has been accepted for presentation to the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment (IAWBH) 2026 Conference in Canberra, Australia. The IAWBH Conference is the premier international forum for workplace bullying scholarship.