- By Ridam Sharma
- Thu, 11 Sep 2025 12:33 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ At Work: Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS) in the workplace is known as the act of bringing someone down or belittling individuals who excel, stand out, or express confidence at their workplaces. The name ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ is a metaphoric representation of the way tall poppies are cut down in a meadow so that they won't overshadow the rest. At workplaces, this concept usually happens out of resentment, gossiping, or even as an outcome of passive-aggressive bullying against top-performing employees.
As per the famous Tallest Poppy report led by Dr. Rumeet Billan, it states that mostly women are the victims of this syndrome, and it has been a recurring challenge throughout their careers. When women act like leaders, negotiate effectively, or are proud of their success, people are quick to label them as ‘arrogant.’
Research also states that women in power have higher chances of facing the TPS, which highlights that it is not just an individual crisis but also a deep-rooted structural issue. Some of the usual examples of Tall Poppy Syndrome are when coworkers minimise your achievement, people make remarks about success because of luck instead of merit, keep women out of the decision-making process, or spread negativity in order to destroy confidence and much more.
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Eventually, this hinders women’s success and pulls them back from success. Therefore, organisations across the globe have to understand that TPS significantly affects diversity and overall growth. This also highlights the importance of creating open spaces that acknowledge success, celebrate individuals and their collective achievements. Alongside, educating leaders to stand up for these problematic behaviours and bullying at the workplace by taking crucial steps to make things better can bring broader changes.
A workplace should encourage others to lift each other instead of competing negatively, which can promote a toxic work culture and eventually affect productivity. Also, why should a Tall Poppy not bloom in full in the field, who is making the rules?
