Written by: Julia Felton, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Often the environment is a highly neglected part of business, yet it has an integral impact on business success. This is because everything is interwoven together and is interdependent. Everything aspect of business impacts everything else, either positively or negatively. A company does not and cannot exist in a vacuum. It needs living people, natural resources, and places to function. So why do we invest literally millions of dollars every year on leadership and people development in isolation without considering the environment in which we are asking these people to operate?
Components of the Business Environment
The business environment is comprised of:
Microenvironment or the internal environment
Macro-environment or the external environment
And it is the combination of these internal and external factors that influences a company's operating situation. The macro-environment includes clients and suppliers; competition; improvements in technology; laws and government activities; and market, social and economic trends. Whereas the micro environment typically reflects the company culture and atmosphere.
The simple truth is that you won’t have an engaged team and motivated leaders if the internal environment does not support this. If the business culture does not support innovation and creativity and a fear of failure permeates then decision-making will be impaired and the business will not achieve the success it desires.
Team members will not challenge the status quo for fear of reprimand, and as a result, innovation will be stifled. It is therefore essential that the environment/culture encourages team members to make decisions and take calculated risks.
In 2006, Anne Scoular perfectly echoed this sentiment when she noted on the Corporate Research Forum that: “The tendency [is] for people to over-emphasize personality-based explanations for behaviors while under-emphasizing the role and power of situational influences. In other words, people assume that what a person does is based more on what kind of person he or she is rather than the social and environmental forces at work on that person. It is what surrounds managers that has such a powerful influence on internal social and environmental forces in the organization’s culture, systems, policies, climate, and protocol.”
Personally, I never fully appreciated how powerful the environment and business culture could be on both personal and business success until I found myself working in a dysfunctional environment. Up until that time I had always enjoyed my work and flourished in the corporate environment I found myself in. I loved my job and success seemed to follow me in whatever I did.
Then, once I had started my own business I had the misfortune of taking a contract with a company that on paper looked amazing. I loved the work they did and all the people I met during the initial meetings. However, once I got “inside” the company I realized how toxic the culture was. People were scared of the CEO, there were low levels of trust, and morale and engagement were at an all-time low. Team members didn’t speak up for fear of being ridiculed and as a result, there was little innovation or creativity. Lack of engagement meant that productivity levels were low and no one went the extra mile. Why would they when they felt they would be criticized for what they did? Even I became impacted by this toxic culture and rapidly lost my mojo for the role I was doing when it became apparent that I couldn’t do anything correctly.
That’s the power of the business environment. Get it wrong and it can literally kill your business.
Environment Matters
The environment sets the company's standards and ethos and the tone for how activities occur in the workplace. If the conditions in which we work meet a particular standard, then everyone is capable of courageous action, above and beyond what you have expected of them. People are driven by the desire to serve and will sacrifice (even their lives) in pursuit of what they believe in and what is aligned with their values. This is why it is imperative to ensure that the business has a clear vision and purpose that is articulated to the team members.
When the right conditions create an inspiring, harmonious, trust-based environment, team members excel and exceed expectations. When this happens, strong bonds are formed, the type of bonds that can’t be broken by fear. People give everything to protect what they believe in, and people look out for each other. There is a genuine spirit of collaboration, and this drives business success.
Want to know how well you score in developing the environment within your business, then take the Unbridled Business Assessment to see how you rate in the four areas of purpose; leadership, teamwork, and environment. You can take the assessment here and then access all the resources to help you implement the Unbridled Business Framework in your business.
Follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook and visit my website for more on leadership and reinventing business. I also invite you to download my free eBook on Leading Teams Through Uncertainty and check out my latest book – Unbridled Business – on Amazon.
Julia Felton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower, a leadership and team engagement company. She is passionate about disrupting the status quo and discovering new ways to run and lead businesses so they are fit for purpose in the 21st century. She believes that a model on how to reinvent business exists in nature and herds of horses that embrace the principles of connection, collaboration, and community to work effectively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results because everyone starts pulling in the same direction and feels inspired to show up for work every day knowing they are making a difference in the world. Julia is a leading authority on Unbridled Leadership. The author of two books Unbridled Business: Unlocking Nature’s Wisdom To Reinvent Leadership & Unbridled Success: How The Secret Lives of Horses Can Impact Leadership, Teamwork & Communication. She is the host of IMPACTFUL: The Podcast and a C-Suite and CEO Mentor, consultant, trainer, and speaker.
