How environment affects achievement orientation?

 How environment affects achievement orientation?

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we discussed the first two factors on achievement orientation viz Values and Purpose, the third factor which impacts achievement orientation is the Environment.

The environment is where and with whom we spend most of our time, that could be our internal family members, colleagues, friends, and externally to some extent, the society.

How the internal environment impacts us towards achievement orientation?

Since we spend more time with family, friends, and professional networks, they influence our thought process towards achievement orientation. That thought process triggers our ability to take risks, confidence, and courage to manage the challenges during the execution of any tasks.
 
For example,
Imagine that you are proposing a new venture to your internal environmental members. The next step in your venture is predominately determined by the kind of response or reactions you receive from your close circles. That could be an encouraging response or show stopper kind of response.

The environment is primarily influencing your thought process in the following aspects.

Should i focus more on " to be successful " or " not to be failed"?

Even though both focus approaches seem to be the same, there is a subtle difference in how we deal with the achievement task.

When we have a "success" orientation, most of the time, we look for LEARNING  in each step and always look at the experience (either pass or fail) as a learning opportunity. That approach would put us at a high energy level.

When we orient towards “not to fail,” our inclination would be more rigid, always try to be smarter than others, and that approach leads us to a high anxiety level.
 
The environment predominately determines our approach.

Practically, as an individual, we have limited choice on selecting the environment circle, however, we can be conscious about our responses and our thought process towards achievement orientation.

How can a leader in the organization build a conducive environment for achievement orientations among people?

Let us discuss it next week!

How does the environment affect you?

How does the environment affect you?

A few days back, i met a friend after a long time. During the interaction, he was frequently mentioning his colleagues' and subordinate’s toxic behaviors and his frustration to work with them. As I knew him as a highly energetic and positive person, but now he becomes more skeptical about any new initiatives and cynical about everything in his workplace and quality of life. He was much disturbed due to his colleagues/subordinates as they are the people with whom he spends much time.

It is said that you are the AVERAGE of the five people you spend most of the time.  This statement may be true because your environment influences your thought processes, behaviors, and activities. The environment can be family, professional, or friend ‘s circle.

 When you surround yourself with positive and energetic people, you will also start to observe them, reflect their thought process and behavior in you without much conscious effort. Alternatively, if you are surrounded by mostly with toxic people who are always blaming/complaining about everything, you will also start believing in their thought process, and you will also demonstrate the same behavior. That is the power of the environment and its influence in our life.

       As you cannot change the environment completely, be aware of the quality of people you are surrounded by, the news channel you are watching, your Facebook / WhatsApp feeds, and so on. Make a slight shift in the environmental mix by meeting new people, joining educational forums, visiting new places, getting exposed to new challenges, and associating with people beyond your natural circle. This shift will help you to enhance your perspectives.

       Since the environment influences your action, be aware of the quality of your situation, and choose the balanced mix.

P.S: (I suggested my friend look up other functional colleagues, benchmark his boss, and start spending more time with different circles to alter his environment mix. I hope things will become better soon!)

How environment triggers your behavior and action?

when I asked the following question  in my management seminar, the response would be as follows"Imagine you are in an airport. You eat the chocolate and search a dustbin to put the wrapper. However, you do not find a dustbin in a nearby area and also you hear the announcement for boarding into flight. What will you do with the chocolate wrapper when you are in airport 1 & 2 ?"

In almost the session, to my surprise, people responded  instantly as follows

In case of  AIRPORT1, I will through  the wrapper in the corner and move on, even though it is embarrassed me,

Whereas in case of AIRPORT 2, I will keep the wrapper in my pant pocket to find a dustbin later and dispose of it.What does this behavior or response indicate? 

As a human being, we create a perception about the place based on its environment ( how it is organized & cleaned, lighting, visuals, and visibility). When the environment is more appealing, it triggers positive behavior on the people and action also positive.

Alternatively, when the environment is not conducive, it triggers negative behavior and action.

It holds good for the home & organizational environment as well. When the internal organization is organized neatly, it triggers positive behavior in the people, and it would get demonstrated with timely communication, care for the people, product, and equipment,. When the workplace is not organized correctly, people working in that environment also behave negatively as not caring anything and adding further chaos in the system.

As you are the leader of your system, create a positive environment as much as possible for conducive communication, relationship, and growth. That is a responsibility of everyone who leads.

Change Environment ----Change perception ----Trigger Positive behavior

Environment Influences

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people are not used to an environment where excellence is expected”. Steve Jobs

    As you may aware that Koi fish is belonging to the ornamental fish category and generally used for decorative purposes in outdoor ponds. This fish has the ability to survive and adapt to any climate.The interesting characteristic is that it grows in accordance to where it lives. For example, if we keep the Koi fish in the bowl, it grows few centimeters length, and if it is in a larger tank, it grows to twice that length or in a pond, it grows to one foot or place it a large lake and it may grow over a meter long. To sum up, its growth depends on which environment it lives.**

     I think, this applies to human being as well. Our growth or ability to leverage the potential depends on which atmosphere or environment, we are living. The most influencing environments could be home and  professional environment. Home environment helps the child to pick up the right values and beliefs.
Especially in a professional environment, the learning ability and growth potential depends on the organization we work for and the leaders / managers we work with. The organizational environment enhances the person's potential and allows them to stretch. 

     To sum up, if leaders / managers create a learning environment wherein the individual learning experience, exposure can be maximized. Likewise, the parent is influencing the child to take on the values and beliefs from home environment. If it is so, is it not a responsibility for seniors to create a positive environment and facilitate the development of people?

**source: 50 stories &snippets for conference & workshop presentations by David Williams