The Johari Window: Building Self-Awareness and Trust on Your Team
The Johari Window is a model for understanding and improving self-awareness, communication, and trust between individuals and within teams. Developed in the 1950s, it remains relevant today, especially for leaders seeking to build more open, connected, and effective teams.
As a refresher, the Johari Window divides personal awareness into four quadrants:
Open Area - things about yourself that you and others know
Blind Spot - things others know about you that you don't know
Facade Area - things you know about yourself that others don't know
Unknown Area - things neither you nor others know about yourself
By understanding these areas, you can focus on:
Expanding your Open Area by revealing more about yourself to others
Shrinking your Blind Spots by seeking feedback and becoming aware of how others see you
Reducing your Facade Area by opening up and letting others truly know you
Exploring your Unknown Area through new experiences that reveal unseen talents
As a leader, reflecting on your own Johari Window can increase your emotional intelligence and modeling openness can inspire your team.
The Johari Window Model from https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/johari-window
Here are some ways to put the Johari Window model into practice:
When onboarding new team members, have the existing team complete Johari Window exercises to surface assumptions and blind spots between members.
In one-on-ones, ask team members for feedback on your leadership blind spots. Be willing to name and work on them.
Share stories and experiences from your life outside work appropriate to deepen understanding.
If you sense a team member is "wearing a mask," create space for authenticity.
Introduce development opportunities to reveal team members' unknown abilities.
Facilitate team building activities to open communication and feedback channels.
While challenging, leading with transparency and committing to personal growth sets the tone for the team to do the same. A coaching partnership can provide that confidential sounding board to process vulnerabilities as you widen your own Johari Window and inspire your team to do the same. Let's start the conversation!