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Managing Stress

In this insightful interview, we will meet Dr. Rachel Morris, a seasoned former GP and speaker who intimately understands the pressures of feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and teetering on the brink of burnout.

With a deep belief that it is possible to thrive both in work and life, Rachel advocates for the idea that happiness and a fulfilling career should not be mutually exclusive. As the host of the widely acclaimed podcast You Are Not A Frog, Rachel has been a guiding voice for many professionals struggling to maintain balance in their lives.

In addition to her podcast, she created the Shapes Toolkit Programme which helps doctors and other healthcare staff in high stress, high stakes jobs beat burnout and work happier. Her courses are lauded for helping healthcare workers navigate the challenges of their roles while preserving their well-being. She has served as the Director of Leadership Courses for Red Whale (GP Update Ltd), where she co-authored and delivered their flagship course, Lead. Manage. Thrive! aimed at empowering GPs and primary care professionals across the UK.

Rachel also dedicated 15 years as Assistant Director for GP Studies at the University of Cambridge’s School of Clinical Medicine and set up and led the ‘Doctor as Professional’ Curriculum

They say that the most toxic form of leadership is the rescuer leadership, because it just keeps people infantilised. It keeps people in victim, it leads to burnout in your teams, it leads to interpersonal conflict within the teams, and it just helps nobody. – Dr Rachel Morris

Three key takeaways I came away with from our conversation:

Understand the Difference Between Stress and Burnout: Stress can drive performance when managed well, but chronic stress leads to burnout, characterised by cynicism, exhaustion, and poor empathy.

Shift from Rescuer to Coach in Leadership: Leaders often fall into the “rescuer” role. Instead, adopt a coaching approach, empowering team members to solve their own problems and fostering a more resilient and independent workforce.

Recognise and Reframe Internal Stories: Rachel emphasised the importance of recognising threat responses and reframing thoughts to reduce physical threat reactions, leading to clearer thinking and better decision-making.

Listen to the full interview now to discover how to help manage your stress and the stress of others and thrive in your work and life.

You can listen to the Business Elevation interview with Dr Rachel Morris and Chris Cooper here. Alternatively on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Tunein, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio (latter US only).

More about Dr Rachel Morris:

Dr Rachel Morris is a former GP who knows what it is like to feel overwhelmed, exhausted and on the edge of burnout. She believes that it should be possible to thrive both in work and life and that you shouldn’t have to choose between working and being happy.

Rachel hosts the Apple UK Business Top 100 podcast ‘You Are Not A Frog’ and

She has been Director of Leadership Courses for Red Whale (GP Update Ltd), a national Primary Care training organisation where she co-authored and delivered their flagship Leadership course, Lead. Manage. Thrive! for GPs, and those working in primary care.

She has a wide experience in education having worked for 15 years as Assistant Director for GP Studies at the School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge. She then developed and led their new Professionalism Course until 2017.

She regularly speaks at conferences on topics such as ‘How to be happy at work’, ‘Staying mentally healthy at work’ and ‘How to conflict without the drama’ and runs workshops and training days around the Shapes Toolkit.

Download your free toolkit for overwhelm here – https://www.shapestoolkit.com/overwhelm-sos