You Weren't a Low Performer. You Were a Plant in a Toxic Environment.

How did I go from being a top performer... to suddenly being told I wasn't "cut out for this fast-paced environment?"

The only thing that had changed was my boss.

I had even came back early from maternity leave to be a "team player."

Instead, I ended up doing his job and mine while receiving a lower performance rating.

Maybe you've been told something similar...

"Maybe you don't have what it takes." "Maybe you can't deal with ambiguity." "Maybe you're not cut out for this place."

But 6 months earlier, you were a top performer.

Nothing about your talent changed. The environment did.

A few years ago, IKEA ran a simple experiment.

Two identical plants received the same water, sunlight, and care.

One was exposed to encouragement. The other to constant criticism.

One thrived. The other was barely clinging to life.

The lesson is hard to ignore.

We'd never expect a plant to thrive without healthy conditions.

Yet we expect HUMANS to do it every day.

We place talented employees in environments filled with- 🚩 micromanagement 🚩 unclear expectations 🚩 constant chaos 🚩 shifting deadlines 🚩 office politics

Then we're surprised when they stop growing or burn out.

And worse... We label them "low performers."

That's not the case with top talent that's been thrust into a toxic environment.

They're trying to grow in conditions that would suffocate almost anything.

Because growing people and growing plants share a lot of things in common.

Failure to thrive isn't usually an individual problem; it's an environmental one.

Before you decide someone needs to be fixed, start by asking a different question:

Does the environment they work in give them a chance to thrive?

Because the best leaders and companies don't just manage people.

They create the conditions where people can grow and thrive.

For the full framework, read Theory of Hireability.

If this hit close to home, come get the whole framework at TheoryOfHireability.com.