When Excellence Makes You a Target
Strategic response framework for high-performing women facing workplace bullying, discrimination, and retaliation—not because they failed, but because they excelled.
Discover the Framework Book Karen
Strategic response framework for high-performing women facing workplace bullying, discrimination, and retaliation—not because they failed, but because they excelled.
Discover the Framework Book Karen
High-performing women aren't targeted for weakness. They're targeted for visibility, competence, and refusing to shrink.
Originating in Australia and New Zealand, "Tall Poppy Syndrome" describes the cultural impulse to cut down those who rise too high or shine too bright.
In professional settings where power is informally enforced, women are punished not for failing—but for excelling.
The paradox: The very traits that make you promotable—vision, competence, visibility—are the same traits that trigger professional backlash.
of workplace bullying targets who report to HR face retaliation rather than resolution.
Workplace Bullying Institute, 2024
Based on nearly a decade of qualitative research with high-performing women across healthcare, corporate, nonprofit, and education sectors
When workplace systems fail to protect you, the TARGETED framework provides a strategic response system grounded in research, not wishful thinking about institutional protection.
Begin with clarity about what matters most: your dignity, your career trajectory, your family's well-being, or your mission. Your values dictate your path.
Map the invisible power structures that govern your workplace. Who holds informal influence? Where does protection come from? Understanding power flows is essential for strategic action.
Identify perpetrators, enablers, and potential allies. Not everyone who watches is complicit, but not everyone who sympathizes will act. Accurate player assessment determines strategic options.
There are three strategic pathways: Endure (freeze/fawn), Escalate (fight), or Exit (flight). Each has covert and overt execution methods.
Precision matters more than volume. Strategic moves—whether visible or invisible—are calculated for maximum impact with minimum risk.
Power doesn't disappear—it shifts. Whether through documentation, strategic relationships, or legal action, you choose where power flows.
Your response isn't just about survival. It's about building a future where your excellence doesn't make you vulnerable.
Strategic reduction of visibility while maintaining employment. This covert approach focuses on self-protection while building documentation or awaiting organizational change.
Direct confrontation through formal channels including HR complaints, legal action, or documented reporting. This overt strategy accepts the risks of visibility in exchange for potential systemic change.
Planned departure that preserves professional reputation and personal well-being. This strategy prioritizes boundary-setting and intentional transition over continued engagement with a hostile environment.
Across all three pathways, research indicates that covert execution methods consistently produce better outcomes than overt approaches. Strategic action deployed with precision and protection of identity yields higher success rates than visible confrontation.
Researcher, Speaker, Strategic Advisor
Karen Ellis discovered the Tall Poppy Theory framework through years of research with women who faced workplace targeting at the peak of their professional performance—and through her own experience navigating retaliation as a high-performing executive.
Her work challenges the conventional wisdom that HR protects employees and that formal reporting leads to resolution. Instead, she provides evidence-based strategic frameworks for women who find themselves targeted not for failure, but for excellence.
Karen's mission is to become a nationally recognized thought leader through corporate training and speaking engagements, helping organizations prevent retaliation while providing strategic guidance to women experiencing workplace targeting.
Karen provides strategic consulting, corporate training, and keynote presentations on workplace bullying prevention and strategic response frameworks
Available for keynote presentations, corporate training workshops, strategic consulting, and panel discussions on workplace retaliation and high-performer protection strategies.
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