During a recent conversation around coaching, one of the group discussing the topic had an interesting background in teaching and working with 'problem' children as the media might describe them.

I asked whether there was a common theme to those children who turned things around and were able to forge a better life for themselves; without pause, the answer came 'they took responsibility for their lives'.

As a coach and specifically in the context of 360 degree feedback debriefs, I am similarly struck by the way in which individuals, having read their 360 feedback report and increased their levels of self-awareness, take varying levels of responsibility for the impact of their behaviours.

Change comes when they say 'OK, what can I do about this situation?' rather than absolving themselves by saying 'Well they would say that', 'It's not my fault, they don't listen', etc etc.

There is a lot in the news which talks of people's rights and how there is a need to emphasise more about people's responsibilities - the starting point with this shift comes through that age old idea of 'facing up' to one responsibilities or becoming self-aware.

John