It had been a little over a year since we lost our dog, and our family felt like we needed another 4-legged friend running around our house. My wife was on the hunt for a dog that would work for our kids’ allergies and landed on a great dog rescue organization called Forever Home Dog Rescue. After a couple of playdates, we welcomed Coco, our labradoodle, into the family.

When we first met Coco, she was extremely timid and scared of people. It’s no wonder why she had this behavior given her first 8 months of life was mostly spent in a kennel. She didn’t know how to go up and down stairs. She had no idea what a walk was. Playing with toys was a foreign concept. She essentially had so much of her puppy time taken away from her.

At the start, her timidness remained. While we were all filled with excitement a new dog was in the house, we had to remain patient and calm to let her acclimate. We wanted her to understand regardless of what she went through in the past, she was now in an environment where she would be loved and cared for. In just a couple of weeks, her demeanor took a 180-degree change. She became playful, excited to spend time with us, loved going for long walks, had moments of chaotic zoomies, and it became clear she was enjoying life in her new environment.

It’s amazing how different our experiences can be based on the environment we’re in. Some environments empower growth, appreciation, opportunities to take on new challenges, flexibility, and authenticity. Other environments minimize our uniqueness, exudes a one dominant voice culture, cultivates micromanagement, or belittles us. While the importance of building mental toughness and perseverance internally is critical, I also acknowledge the environments we place ourselves in has a big impact on how we grow and develop.

Take work for example, what will our value-add to our organization look like if we are empowered to be our authentic self, have an open and collaborative environment, and are allowed to take risks finding opportunities that can propel us forward? What would our value-add instead look like in an environment where there’s one dominant voice, work is micromanaged, opportunities are little to none, and the only expectation is for us to do our work? I’ll take option 1 all day, every day. Environment matters and the more we feed off an environment that supports our authentic growth journey, the more not only can we as individuals grow, but studies will show the more the organization will benefit as well.

There are two perspectives I want us to consider – the choice we make on which environments we decide to be a part of along with how we impact the environments we’re in.

First, while at times we feel stuck or in uncontrollable situations, it’s critical to keep searching for what we can control to find an environment that promotes our best self. We must keep our awareness strong to identify when environments don’t align with what we’re trying to accomplish and take the initiative to search for a better environment.

Second, we all can have an impact on the environment we want. We can be the model. We can be the Accelerator that can help move the environment to promote each teammate to bring their best self. It may be difficult, and it may take a long time, but we can each be the change.

Take your step: 1) Reflect on the environments you’re a part of – work, home, community, friends, etc. Are any of these environments in conflict with you searching for your best self? 2) Be the change you want to see in your environments by being the model of what it is to promote an environment empowering authentic success.