Lately, I’ve been talking a lot about this topic: the importance of working in an environment that fits the person (and the moment of their life).
Many people come to me with strong urges to rage quit and pivot. They feel disappointed with their current career path and fantasize about burning everything down, moving to Bali, and becoming a yoga instructor.
Nothing wrong with that!
But what I see, more often than not, is this:
there is usually nothing fundamentally wrong with their role, or career path.
What is wrong is the environment they operate in every morning when they go to work.
We tend to look for complex solutions, when the solution can be surprisingly simple.
It’s like they have been playing the game in hard mode. No need!
Here are 3 recent examples of people I worked with who simply changed their environment, and saw their satisfaction and performance grow exponentially.
1️⃣ The marketing professional:
She was introverted and sensitive, working in a male dominated industry where conflict was encouraged. She had to constantly stand her ground. Meetings were high intensity, full of swearing, and she was always on guard. Survival mode. She felt like an outsider.
She now works in a very similar role, but in a charity. Female leadership, collaborative teams, psychological safety. She feels safe to speak up, has friends at work, and decisions are more reflective (sometimes slower), but cooperative. Same skills. Completely different experience.
2️⃣ From public sector to consulting:
He worked in government, where stability and predictability were highly valued. He, on the other hand, was full of energy, eager to speed things up, grow, and change systems. He was not welcomed and was even perceived as a threat.
Today he works in consulting, with different clients and industries every week. He is learning fast, growing through increasingly complex projects, and finally feels in motion.
3️⃣ The entrepreneur trapped in corporate:
He worked in a prestigious, publicly listed corporation. Bold, creative, experimental by nature. He felt that processes and controls mattered more than real impact. Endless meetings to manage stakeholders and quarterly expectations. Each time he was told to “stay in his lane,” he lost a bit more of his spark. When he spoke about having fun at work, colleagues frowned.
He now runs two startups. He experiments, learns, pivots, makes fast decisions, and yes, has fun.
—
None of these people dramatically changed their tasks or core capabilities.
They changed their environment.
They now wake up excited. They feel welcomed.
They are no longer surviving. They are thriving.
So ask yourself:
What kind of environment allows someone like me to thrive?
As my friend and fellow coach Rachel Thoms says:
“If you feel like a fish out of water, maybe you don’t need to change the fish. Maybe you need to change the water.”
