Using the Johari Window for Self-Awareness

If you are living with purpose and striving to reach your goals, where do you want to be in the Johari Window? You will be wanting to be playing within the Arena! The more open and honest you are in your thoughts and feelings, your communications and your behaviours, the more that those around you will have a clear understanding around what it is that you value, what you are trying to achieve and therefore will actually have the ability to help you reach where it is that you want to go. When you’re playing in the Arena, you are completely aware of your skills and abilities and you will become more effective and productive as your interactions and communications with those around you. The Arena is the playing field where trust and relationships are established and cooperation is at its highest.

The aim in any group should always be to develop the 'open area' for every person, because when we work in this area with others we are at our most effective and productive, and the group is at its most productive too. The open free area, or 'the arena', can be seen as the space where good communications and cooperation occur, free from distractions, mistrust, confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.

Let’s move to the Facade. This is where you are potentially hiding or concealing thoughts or feelings or any other information that is unknown to others. Now, there’s nothing wrong with concealing information and holding private thoughts and feelings to yourself. However, for someone to be able to help you in a certain situation, they will need to know where you currently stand and what your thoughts, feelings or knowledge is on the subject. The more you can be open and honest and reveal certain things about yourself, the more that others will be able to gain an insight into who you are and how you operate. By doing this, you will build trust, enhance your relationships and when it comes to pursuing your goals, those around you will be able to start helping you get there! The more you can reveal about yourself, the more you will expand yourself into the Arena and start enhancing your relationships, communicate more effectively and perform at higher levels. Similarly when it comes to skillsets and capability, the more you can openly share and reveal around these, the more that others will have an awareness of where they can help you through coaching, mentoring, teaching or providing support or guidance.

The hidden area could also include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas, manipulative intentions, secrets - anything that a person knows but does not reveal, for whatever reason. It's natural for very personal and private information and feelings to remain hidden, indeed, certain information, feelings and experiences have no bearing on work, and so can and should remain hidden. However, typically, a lot of hidden information is not very personal, it is work- or performance-related, and so is better positioned in the open area.

Relevant hidden information and feelings, etc, should be moved into the open area through the process of 'disclosure'. The aim should be to disclose and expose relevant information and feelings - hence the Johari Window terminology 'self-disclosure' and 'exposure process', thereby increasing the open area. By telling others how we feel and other information about ourselves we reduce the hidden area, and increase the open area, which enables better understanding, cooperation, trust, team-working effectiveness and productivity. Reducing hidden areas also reduces the potential for confusion, misunderstanding, poor communication, etc, which all distract from and undermine team effectiveness.

Organizational culture and working atmosphere have a major influence on group members' preparedness to disclose their hidden selves. Most people fear judgement or vulnerability and therefore hold back hidden information and feelings, etc, that if moved into the open area, ie known by the group as well, would enhance mutual understanding, and thereby improve group awareness, enabling better individual performance and group effectiveness.

Now onto the Blind Spot. This is the fun area! This is the area that you really need to minimise to ensure you are self-aware around your behaviours and impact on others, and to ensure you can perform at your highest ability. What don’t you know about yourself? Arn’t you curious to find out? How do you find out something about yourself when you don’t know what you need to find out? Feedback! Ask for feedback. Don’t be afraid to request feedback from others whenever or whoever that may be. There may be things that you are doing that you do not know that you are doing! This is not a productive space to be in. Feedback is essential for building your self-awareness and can help you learn and discover how to communicate or perform in a more effective and productive way. When it comes to skill and ability, asking for feedback is essential for learning and development and helping you make your way into the Arena where you can be more effective at pursuing your goals.

This blind area is not an effective or productive space for individuals or groups. This blind area could also be referred to as ignorance about oneself, or issues in which one is deluded. A blind area could also include issues that others are deliberately withholding from a person. We all know how difficult it is to work well when kept in the dark. No-one works well when subject to 'mushroom management'. People who are 'thick-skinned' tend to have a large 'blind area'.

The Unknown area is the area you want to try stay out of. People with low self-belief or that are inexperienced may fall into this quadrant. You may not know what your skills and capabilities are, and others may not have had any opportunity to witness any of these. Self-limiting beliefs or feelings or attitudes that hold you back can prevent you from discovering certain things about yourself. Perhaps its a fear of entering into the unknown. On many occasions, and individual that spends time in this area may need to break out of their comfort zone to start entering one of the other quadrants. Trying new experiences and testing your limits can help you discover more about yourself and your skills and abilities. Working closely and building relationships with others may help them identify certain traits that they can point out for you. Similar to the blind spot, seeking feedback can help you identify certain traits and build your self-awareness.

These unknown issues take a variety of forms: they can be feelings, behaviours, attitudes, capabilities, aptitudes, which can be quite close to the surface, and which can be positive and useful, or they can be deeper aspects of a person's personality, influencing his/her behaviour to various degrees. Large unknown areas would typically be expected in younger people, and people who lack experience or self-belief.

Examples of unknown factors are as follows, and the first example is particularly relevant and common, especially in typical organizations and teams:

• an ability that is under-estimated or un-tried through lack of opportunity, encouragement, confidence or training
• a natural ability or aptitude that a person doesn't realise they possess
• a fear or aversion that a person does not know they have
• an unknown illness
• repressed or subconscious feelings
• conditioned behaviour or attitudes from childhood

The processes by which this information and knowledge can be uncovered are various, and can be prompted through self-discovery or observation by others, or in certain situations through collective or mutual discovery, of the sort of discovery experienced on outward bound courses or other deep or intensive group work. Counselling can also uncover unknown issues, but this would then be known to the person and by one other, rather than by a group.

Tips for Using the Johari Window for Self-Awareness

Every single one of us acts and behaves within all four quadrants. We are all open and honest and aware of our skill sets and abilities, however we all hold back information from others as well. There are always things that other people are aware of that we do not know. People react to things differently and people have different perspectives, even when experiencing the same situation. We don’t know everything, and others that are more experienced can help us with our blind spots. We all have our ‘unknown’ areas. We don’t know what we don’t know, but we can certainly make choices to test our limits and help us discover more about ourselves.

Playing in the Arena is where Happiness and Success can be fulfilled. You will build trust in your relationships, enhance your communication, build cooperation with others and be more effective and productive.  To help you play within the Arena, remember and act on these points:

·        Reveal yourself.

Share your thoughts and feelings with others. Let others know your skills and capabilities. The more than others know about you the better they are able to assist you in reaching your goals.

·        Seek feedback.

Never be afraid to ask for feedback from others. You don’t know what you don’t know and feedback is an essential ingredient for building self-awareness, helping you to move into the Arena.

·        Test your limits.

Try new experiences and expand your comfort zone. Build your self-awareness by testing yourself in new situations and surrounding yourself with others who are able to provide insights to you.