The Occupational Hazard Every High-Achieving Leader Needs to Know About

The Occupational Hazard Every High-Achieving Leader Needs to Know About

From You Are Not A Frog by Dr Rachel Morris

June 1, 2026 · 55 min · Episode 323

About this episode

This episode discusses the impact of colleague complaints on high-achieving leaders and how to reframe these experiences.

Getting a complaint from a colleague is one of the most destabilising things that can happen to a high-achieving leader. Not because of the process, but because of what it makes you ask about yourself. In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Pallavi Bradshaw, Medical Director at the MPS, to talk about something that doesn't get named nearly enough: a complaint from a colleague isn't a patient or client complaint. It feels very different and can be devastating if our ingrained programming tells us that we have to please everyone all the time to feel good enough. And so unless you start to frame it differently, it will affect your next decision, and the one after that. This conversation genuinely produced an a-ha moment for me. It may change how you carry the next time it happens. We cover: Why colleague complaints feel categorically different - and why that makes complete sense The question underneath the complaint that drives so many decisions afterwards What Dr Bradshaw has learned about supporting doctors through formal grievances at the MPS How to stop a complaint from becoming something you carry permanently This episode is for you if you're the person who had to have the…

People in this episode

Host: Dr Rachel Morris

Guest: Dr. Pallavi Bradshaw

Topics covered

  • leadership
  • complaints
  • self-reflection
  • professional development
  • mental health

Keywords

  • high-achieving leader
  • colleague complaints
  • self-worth
  • decision making
  • grievances

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MPS

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