- We're going to look at the Johari Window.
We'll describe how the model works
and talk about ways that you can use it
to increase your self-awareness
and your relationship with others
and how you work in groups
and I will be using myself as a running example.
(upbeat rock music)
I'm Alex Lyon and each week I post videos to help you
with your leadership and professional development.
And this model has been around for decades
and it's in most college textbooks
that deal with interpersonal communication
and related areas of relationship development.
So where does this name Johari come from?
Well, the creators Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham
took the first letters of their names
and combined them to make the name of the model.
So that little spark of creativity
makes me already like this model and it provides a way
to increase our self-awareness, self-perception,
and I mainly like the Johari Window
because it can inspire us to be more authentic,
more genuine and more open
and that will help us form deeper connections.
It's a two by two model that gives us four squares.
Some people call them windows like the name of the model
which is a nice metaphor
because these are windows into what makes you tick.
On the x-axis, we have what we know about ourselves
and don't know about ourselves.
And on the y-axis, we have what's known to others
and not known to others about us.
And that gives us four squares.
They're each different sizes depending upon the individual
and it all depends on how well you know yourself
and how well others know you.
So let's start with the most obvious window.
This represents everything we know about ourselves
and everything that others know about us.
This window is called the open area or arena.
Some people describe this as the I know, you know window.
There are no secrets here.
For example, everybody who knows me,
even for a little while,
sees that I'm outgoing, I'm quick to laugh,
I'm very willing to engage in conversations
and talk about almost all areas of my life.
I usually have a positive attitude.
I'm a teacher, a Christian, and I care about my family.
I'm aware of all of this
and I'm willing to communicate it openly.
So question for you,
what would you put in this square for yourself?
What parts of your personality are out there in the open?
You might wanna pause and take an inventory
of what's in this window for you.
The second window is called the hidden area.
This is somethings called the facade window
or the masked window.
The phrase that describes this window
is I know, but you don't.
We're keeping information here private or under wraps
like your fears or other issues.
Maybe you have something from your past
that you'd rather not talk about.
It could be that you're not sharing personal information
like your hopes or dreams.
Maybe what you really want to do for example is be an artist
but you keep that information to yourself,
you keep it hidden because you don't want to be criticized.
The key though is that you know
what these various positives and negatives are
even if you're not talking about them openly with others.
This can obviously change over time.
So as you make some of this information
more known to others, then it becomes open.
So once you talk about it, once it's known to others,
that open box will expand.
So for me, years ago, I had an anxiety issue
and I finally realized it
because even when everything seemed great on the surface,
I still felt this vibration of anxiety and discomfort
that never really went away.
And after realizing this, it became known to me,
but I didn't tell anybody except for my wife
and I think maybe my brother.
But when I did tell them,
and then especially when I told others,
it became known to others and it went into that open window.
That square grew.
And by the way, I'm doing 95% better with anxiety
since I began talking about it and getting help with it
and that's why I love this model.
It can inspire us to be authentic
and that can lead to growth and deeper relationships.
So question for you,
what was something that was once hidden in that square
but now you talk about it openly?
Now, the third window is called the blind area
or blind spot.
That name may sound politically incorrect to some people,
but that's what they called it
when they made the model decades ago.
The phrase that describes this window
is I don't know, but you do.
So here, we may not realize certain things about ourselves
but others know this about us,
so information in this square could be positive or negative.
Have you ever for example met somebody
who was really self-centered?
Well, you may know that about them
but they may not realize it about themselves.
So for me, the key purpose of this square
is that you can use it to figure out
what other people think to help you grow.
So your friends for example can help you mature
if you're open to feedback about what they see in you.
Years ago, I lived in California
where I went to grad school for a couple of years
and my new friends quickly noticed
that I had this East Coast edge.
I was a bit snappy.
I had a short temper,
but I did not realize this about myself.
I grew up on the East Coast
and that way of talking just seemed normal
and familiar to me.
But my friends in California saw this about me
and they pointed it out nicely.
They said, "Man, why are you so uptight, so tense?
"You should just relax a little."
And they used to laugh at how stereotypical I was
coming from the East Coast.
And by the way,
this was extremely helpful for me in the long run.
They helped me laugh at myself
and I started to become more well-rounded
and more aware about how I came across
and so the information in this window
could be entirely positive as well.
I didn't realize that I was really good at following through
and completing projects compared to other people
until somebody pointed it out to me
and then I now count it as one of my strengths.
It's something that I can feel good about
and know that I can do well.
So question for you,
have you ever realized something about yourself
because somebody pointed it out to you?
And the fourth square is the unknown
and the phrase for this is I don't know, you don't know.
And this information about ourselves nobody knows,
at least not yet.
So the question is, how do we know this square even exists?
Well, we know this information is there
waiting to be discovered because in the past,
when we have had new experiences,
we have learned more about who we are
that we previously did not know.
So there was a point, if you had asked me,
do you like sushi?
I would have replied I don't know, I've never tried it.
So it turns out I love sushi
and that was once unknown to me and unknown to others,
but it's squarely now in the open box.
I like octopus, squid, eel,
and that's a really simple example,
but new experiences teach me things about myself
I didn't know and that nobody else knew about me.
When I got married, had a son, became a supervisor at work,
these new experiences revealed
both positive and negative aspects that nobody knew yet.
So question for you, have you ever had a new experience
that taught you something about yourself that was new?
This shows that there are still
undiscovered parts of who we are.
Maybe this will inspire you to get out of your comfort zone
and try something new.
So question of the day,
how could you use the Johari Window to help you increase
your self-awareness and self-perception?
Take some time and use this model
as a way to get to know yourself better.
Before we go, I made two related videos
that I would like to recommend
that will help you keep moving along this same trajectory.
The first is a video on how to improve
your self-awareness in relationships
and all about getting along with others
and the second is how to increase
your self-awareness as a leader.
Each video will help you dig deeper
into parts of yourself that you may not know very well yet.
I will put the links to those
in the description below the video
and also they may be popping up here
on the screen somewhere.
So thanks, God bless and I will see you in the next video.