Which self is a collection of those things that we keep to ourselves?
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If you are serious about development you need to have the right people around you. Here’s why. Show
The Johari Window is a theoretical model of your ‘self’. It has four different parts;
The Open Self is already in your consciousness so we’re all good there. That which you choose to keep as your Hidden Self is also in your awareness, you don’t need help with that. This then leaves us with the remaining two – Blind and Unknown. Having people around you that will tell you about your Blind Self is critical. Yes, this is for relaying back your faults but even more important is for somebody to highlight your strengths. I’ve written before about how we take these for granted (simple proof is to ask people who know you really well what your strengths are, almost always there will be one or two surprises). Your Blind Self may contain Superpowers that you will never fully recognise without an external perspective. Why would you not want to know what they are? You are more powerful than you realiseNow let’s talk about the Unknown Self. The part of you that is within you, waiting to be unleashed. The other person can’t see it either so how do they help you to access it? Through inspiration. Think about the times when you have made a leap in development. In my life there was always a person who inspired me to become more than I was.
Gayle Mann, Gill Moffatt, James Powell, Jim Duffy, the list goes on. Without these people I might never have made the developmental leaps that I have. They didn’t tell me what to do, they didn’t point out where I had to go. Instead they did something that was more important. They believed in me. In their book called ‘The Power of Moments’ (which is excellent incidentally), Chip and Dan Heath write that a good mentor is a person who says; I have high expectations for you and I know you can meet them. Try this new challenge and if you fail, I’ll help you recover. I’d tweak that slightly and say; Set yourself high expectations because I believe in you. Tell me what challenge you want to attempt and I’ll support you through it. If you fail, I’ll help you recover. Who says that to you? Whom do you say it to? At GoDo Life our approach embodies this. Your coach and the community of people around you live by that ethos. Believe in yourself, attempt the unknown, relish the outcome. Remember that failure is an option, indeed it is an essential part of growth. It helps you build resilience whilst you search for the right path. Accepting failure and moving on prevents your ego from demanding that you repeatedly bash your head against an unassailable obstacle. With our community, failure is simply the point at which we ask; “How do you feel? What did you learn and what do you want to do now?” Who believes in you? Does your peer group challenge you to become better and support you when you need it? Who could you become if you were free from negative judgement and unleashed your Unknown Self? Find out what it feels like to have people around you who believe in you. Or don't. Make your choice. If you live in Birmingham sign up for our event www.godolife.co.uk/event "There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self." Benjamin Franklin, 1750 Johari Window is one of my favourite models to help leaders build self-awareness. This guide explores:
What is the Johari Window Model?The Johari Window improves self-awareness and mutual understanding between individuals within a group. It is particularly helpful for leaders who want to understand how people perceive them. It was devised by American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 while researching group dynamics at the University of California Los Angeles. The model was first published in the Proceedings of the Western Training Laboratory in Group Development by UCLA Extension Office in 1955, and was later expanded by Joseph Luft. The model name is derived from combining the two names Joseph and Harry. Why use the Johari Window Model?The effectiveness of your leadership will be limited by your Self-Awareness. Improving self-awareness will help you listen, be more present and be better in tune with the person or group you are leading. This HBR Article explores what self-awareness is and how it can help you be a better leader. In particular, the article defines two types, Internal and External Self-awareness:  The Johari Window model develops internal and external self-awareness. It helps you become aware of how others see you in contrast to how you see yourself. A good outcome is a perfect alignment between how you see yourself and others see you. This happens when you are a very open leader who has worked with a stable group for some time. A common outcome is a difference between how you see yourself and others see you. There are values important to you that others are unaware of. There are also values you demonstrate that other people see but you are not aware of. The Johari window helps create this awareness of these contrast. With this knowledge, you can work to increase your open area. Where how you see yourself aligns with how others perceive you. This is done by discussing the results with the group and seeking greater understanding. Becoming a Better LeaderSelf-awareness is a core skill of coach-like leaders. In fact, great leaders are great coaches. The problem is that coaching is often misunderstood. To help leaders understand coaching I created this eBook. A curated summary of the 12 best coaching books. Helping you build better coaching skills and develop high performing teams. How does the Johari Window Model work?To gather perspectives you will use a list of Johari window adjectives. These are used to surface insights for discussion. Steps:
This Miro Board is a great way to facilitate the Johari Window exercise. What are the four quadrants of the Johari Window?The Johari Window quadrants are as follows: Open These are adjectives that both you and your team select. This is known as the open area. The ideal outcome is where this open area is large. This demonstrates your behaviours are in alignment with how you want to be perceived. New teams naturally start with smaller open areas. Over time as you share knowledge, skills and experience the open area should grow. The Johari Window is a great exercise to use with new teams. It helps build awareness of each other's values and strengths. It can be used as a baseline to see improvement in the teams understanding of each other. To increase the open area start by sharing more about yourself. If there is a value in the hidden area spend time sharing that information with the team. Remember the goal is to increase your open area. Blind These are adjectives not selected by you, but only by the team. These represent what others perceive but you do not. The items in the blind spot offer a great opportunity to learn and increase your self-awareness. It's important to approach these items with curiosity, not defensiveness. Ask questions to learn more about the perspectives. What behaviours have I adopted that led to your choice? There are three typical scenarios that lead to the blindspot:
With all items in the blind spot use them as an opportunity to learn. Hidden These are adjectives selected by you, but not by any of your peers. It's common for the hidden area to be larger for new relationships. It can take time to reveal aspects of yourself to others. It can be surprising to many when the hidden area is still large in a long term relationship. This helps to surface false assumptions and misunderstandings about a person. This can lead to a deeper conversation about how we see each other. The ideal outcome is to move items from the hidden area into the open. You can do this by simply sharing more about these hidden traits with the group. You can also reflect on what behaviours you can adopt that better demonstrate your ideal traits. The hidden area can reveal a deeper insight. How you see yourself is inconsistent with how you behave. Feedback from others can often provide a striking contrast. For example, perhaps you believe you are trustworthy. If none of your peers selects this trait perhaps that's an indicator that your behaviours are not in alignment with trustworthiness. You can dig deeper by asking more about what you can do to demonstrate this trait more. Unknown Any adjectives not selected go into the Unknown. This could be because they simply do not apply or because the people selected have not seen these traits demonstrated. Over time these adjectives might move especially as you engage with different people in the organisation. Johari Window ExamplesHere are three common outcomes from the Johari Window exercise: People don't know who you really are This happens when most of the adjectives you chose are in the hidden area. I was once working with a leader who had chosen confident, fun, happy, kind and independent. None of these adjectives was chosen by the team. This was despite the leader working with the team for several years. Through further discussion, the leader arrived at a key realisation. Many of these traits were applied at home but hadn't been demonstrated in the workplace. The leader worked on identifying behaviours she could adopt at work that would demonstrate these traits. One example was schedule fun check-ins at the start of team meetings. You don't know who you are This happens when your blind spot and hidden areas are high. Another leader I was working with had shy and quiet as chosen adjectives. The team in contrast has all selected confident and able. Through discussion, the leader realised that their imposter syndrome was causing internal self-doubt. In reality, the leader was demonstrating behaviours of confidence and ability. This helped to reaffirm these strengths and amplify them further. Your behaviours don't match how you want to be perceived This is another outcome when your blindspot is high. It's common for leaders behaviours to be in contrast to their desired identity. This was the case for one leader I worked with. They had chosen calm and organized as adjectives. The team in contrast had chosen spontaneous and bold. Through discussion, this was in response to how the leader was handling deadlines. In times of pressure, the team were observing the leader making bold decisions. This had led to frustration in the team and constantly changing priorities. The team would welcome a calm and organized response. With this contrast, the leader shared with the team their hidden area. The leader worked with the team to help in times of pressure. This helped the leader demonstrate more calm and organized responses. This improved the outcomes for the team but also the satisfaction of the leader. When we behave in alignment with our values we lead have greater work satisfaction. Johari Window TemplateTo complete the Johari Window exercise you can use these templates. Miro Board A great way to facilitate the exercise is using Miro, a virtual whiteboard. This template contains the Johari window quadrants. It also has the Johari window adjectives. https://miro.com/templates/johari-window/ Email Template Here is an example email you can share with colleagues to gather their adjectives. Hi, I'm currently completing a program to develop better leadership skills. As part of this, I'm developing core coaching skills of active listening, asking coaching questions and self-awareness. To help improve self-awareness I'm completing an exercise called Johari Window. It helps increase my awareness of how others perceive me compared to how I perceive myself. To help in this activity all I need you to do is pick 5 adjectives from the list below that you feel describe who I am: Johari Window Adjectives List:
What self is a collection of those things that we keep to ourselves?In the Johari Window, the things that we know about ourselves and keep to ourselves represent our. unknown self. open self.
What is hidden self?"Hidden Self" and "Blind Self"
Proposed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, it is a graphic model of interpersonal awareness, which offers suggestions for communication process, taking the ways to reveal and conceal ourselves as a key. It came to be known as "the Johari window," combining the names of the two authors.
What is known to self?Facade — Known to self, but unknown to others: This hidden self is any information that a person knows about him or herself, but is not not revealed to others. Sometimes there is a good reason for holding something back, such as to prevent gossip or the information is unimportant.
What is blind self example?People who are oblivious or self-deceived on how they come across. They think they are funny, while others cringe at their insensitive comments. They think they are dispensing wisdom to everyone they meet, but in reality they don't listen well or frequently interrupt others to give their opinion.
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