I was first introduced to Johari’s window in a leadership class I took from Crown College.  It slipped into the dark recesses of my mind until I saw it again at a team building workshop led by Matt Boda.

What are the basics of Johari’s window?  For all of us, there are aspects of our life, behavior, or character that we are personally cognizant of, or not cognizant of.  Or, simply put, there are areas that are known to self and not known to self.

People around us also see us, and there are aspects of our life, behavior, or character that are known/perceived by them, and other areas of our life that are not seen or known to them.

When placed on a quadrant, there are areas of our life that are known to us and others (shared), known to us but not known to others (hidden), known/perceived by others but not known to us (blind), and things about us that are neither known by us or by others (unknown).

There are two areas in Johari’s Window that have to do with a lack of information.  In the hidden quadrant, you know something about yourself that others do not know.  We should not always view hidden information as bad.  Some elements of your past (or present) are too personal to be revealed in every relationship.  It is important to at least recognize, however, that hidden information can lead to misunderstandings.  By its nature, the information is unknown to a person who sees certain behaviors, and will not understand all the rational behind those behaviors.

The blind quadrant deals with the information other people have or perceive that is hidden from you personally.  One of the goals of our blog is to help people discover their own blind spots.  Since we cannot spend enough time with everyone to help them discover their own blind spots – we will search to do that by holding up mirrors that are showing us our own blind spots.

As we come across themes that show us areas that have been hidden from us, we will share them with you!  Interact with us, please.  Let us know if you think the mirror is an accurate one – or if it is flawed.   Does it reveal a blind spot in your life and what are you going to do about it?  Have you been previously made aware of this information, and if so – how did you move forward?