The Johari window is a tool for developing self-awareness and is an exercise that you can use for yourself or with your team to work on self-awareness. It can even be used to facilitate development discussions.

The Johari Window demonstrates how feedback can help to identify blind spots and how it links back to individual performance, team performance, and the performance of the business overall.

There are four panes in Johari’s window:

The Open Area – what is known to you and known to others. Free and open communication takes place here.

The Blind Area – what is unknown to you but known to others. You are unaware of some of your actions and feelings, while others perceive and know how you react. 

The Hidden Area – what you know about yourself but hide from others. These include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas, manipulative intentions, secrets – anything a person knows but does not reveal for whatever reasons.

The Unknown Area – what is unknown by you and is also unknown by others. This involves feelings, information latent abilities, aptitudes, experiences, etc. This can be an ability that is underestimated or untried through lack of opportunity, encouragement, confidence, or training.

How can you use it to gain self awareness?

Step one: Start in the Open Area pane. What are your strengths and your weaknesses? What are you comfortable with and willing to share with others? Try and be honest and clear about what you know about yourself already.  

Step two: Ask your team and leader for feedback about yourself as a leader. Feedback is an opportunity to raise awareness of the things in the blind area, therefore making them transparent and creating the opportunity to develop them further.

On receiving feedback, explore it further and it could lead to a discovery about yourself!