“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”
― Mark Cain
Being good in a job has a great deal to do with the environment in which you are working. You could argue that moving backward slowly is some people’s definition of growth. Also, you could add that standing still is falling behind because others are moving forward.
Perhaps you have worked or currently are in an environment where there is a blanket that weighs on you and discourages your personal or professional improvement. That would be a “wet blanket” and aptly labeled for its obstructive and contradicting nature. I once worked for a boss who in our first discussion described himself as someone willing and wanting to be supportive of me. It turned out he was anything but that. In my lifetime, he was one of the leaders who least inspired me. Saying one thing and doing another is not providing an environment for others to become more successful.
It takes courage to be a good leader and courage is born of confidence in who you are and not just what you have done or want to do. That is often selfishness, and many managers struggle with that. I know because I was once that type of a manager. When I was that leader, the environment that I fostered was not very conducive to growth and continuous improvement. It was an environment laced with an uncertainty that created instability. Instability and uncertainty are not hotbeds for development and growth.
So, to Mark Cain’s point, we must do something about an environment that we perceive as harmful to us if we expect to either grow ourselves or help others develop. I had to do that too, and I have continuously done that to foster the improvement of others. When still a teenager, I began to take some risks to change my then current living environment. My actions ranged from walking away from relationships that I felt destructive to deciding to find a way to go to college. I had to create a new normal (long before I knew what that meant) so that my journey in life took a turn and headed in a new direction. Once I began that trip, I accelerated my risk-taking. Looking back, I laugh at some of those trips when I realize how adventurous I became, doing things like hitchhiking from the New Mexico – Texas border to Vermont by myself. I had $150 in my pocket and an old Marine backpack that I rummaged from my father’s World War II remnants.
That trip and so much more were steps in changing the environment where I felt I wasn’t going to grow the way I wanted to. As a manager, I realized that I had to change my approach to build an environment that allows others to thrive. It became clear that I had to focus on them and to do whatever I could to help them be more inspired and successful.
In John Maxwell’s 15 Laws of Growth, LAW 5 — The Law of Environment; Growth Thrives In Conducive Surroundings, John explains that being in a growth environment, everyone does better and looks better than when in an adverse situation. Makes perfect sense doesn’t it? If you are encouraged, you will hopefully be inspired. If not ridiculed for mistakes you will more likely be willing to take risks that can cause failure and produce creative innovation.
For me, that means stepping out of my comfort zone regularly and frequently. What does that mean to you? Think about it because it is essential to understand what it takes for you to be in continuous improvement mode. Being comfortable and content is not always a condition where one is moved you to be proactively focused on doing something different to improve.
Assess your current environment when it comes to growth answering true or false to these ten statements:
1. Others are ahead of me
2. I am continually challenged
3. My focus is always forward
4. The atmosphere is affirming
5. I am often out of my comfort zone
6. I wake up excited
7. Failure is not my enemy
8. Others are growing here
9. People desire change
10. Growth is modeled and expected.
If you answered false to five or more of these, your environment might be lowering your growth. What are you going to do about it? Assess your personal growth in these three areas:
• The right Soil – What nourishes me? Are you in a place that does that or if a leader, are you sold out to that type of environment?
• The Right Air To Breathe – What keeps me alive? If you can answer that question, you will know if you are in the right place or need to leave. If leading, are you creating that type of environment for those who report to you?
• The Right Climate To Live In – What sustains me? Do you need stability to feel secure enough to take a risk and be innovative? Do you need excitement or change to inspire you to greater effort required to get better at what you do and become better at who you are?
Of course, there are likely no perfect growth environments. So, don’t expect that or use that as an excuse to not be in improvement mode. I believe that my current leadership behavior promotes continuous improvement. I don’t fear or clobber people for failure. I don’t expect perfection. I merely want people to do their best and strive to get better. However, I have no illusion that I create a utopia for others to better themselves. What that means is that as a leader I need to shoot for perfection to achieve excellence, and as a member of an organization seek to create my own environment where I can thrive. To do that, I must have nourishment centers that I can dwell in to become replenished. You are no different. It is necessary to be in a growth-conducive place if you want to continue to improve. Begin today to build that place!