Self Leadership Coaching Blog

As we watch scenes of wanton distruction and looting in London we must ask ourselves, is there any situation or circumstance that warrants this kind of behaviour? Just before I wrote this blog I was listening to the BBC World Service and heard someone say that we have created a culture of Self and Self-interest and that this was the cause. I don’t subcribe to simplistic cause-effect statements and don’t believe the London riot is the result of one problem or one group of people but I would like to comment on why this kind of selfish behaviour is NOT Self-leadership.

Our sense of Self is first created by our early care-givers; ideally we develop Self-esteem and Self-efficacy as we grow into adults and choose what we believe in and what is worth striving for. Obviously if individuals are born into poverty and with perceived limited opportunities they can choose to make this mean that life is hopeless. Hopelessness is a choice, you have to give your hope away; Victor Frankl did not give his hope away when he was a prisoner in a concentration camp and Nelson Mendela did not give away his hope when he was imprisoned on Robben Island.

The behaviour I am observing is not individuals but groups of people who have been caught up in a wave of frustration and criminal elements that have taken advantage of the situation. The Police were initially overwhelmed and so these groups gained early successes which validated their amoral behaviour. Self-leaders are Self-motivated and Self-regulated; the riot behaviour seems to be motivated by greed for “free stuff” and characterised by a complete lack of Self-regulation.

Politicians and ‘experts’ are now debating why London’s youth lack any moral code – is it the fault of a liberal government who has failed to educate or the break down in parental responsibility or some other coctail of causes? From my perspective I see the current crisis as an extreme  example of what can happen when people are not encouraged to take Self-responsibility in alignment with their own and their communities best interest.