In the B2B and B2C world of building stronger trusting relationships there is much to be gained from greater self-awareness. In the realm of personal development there is an excellent model to build greater self-awareness in individuals and teams, improve team development and inter-group relations known as the Johari window. This model of self-exploration was developed by American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in the 1950’s. The name “Johari” comes form a combination of Jo and Harry. The framework is particularly relevant when exploring the impact of soft-skills on behaviour, empathy, co-operation.
The model represents information on feelings, experience, views attitudes skills, intentions and motivation in an individual, in a group or individuals within groups from different perspectives. The diagrammatic representation of the model is often a variation on a 4 celled grid or 4 quadrants. I’ve shown the most simple one I can find to make it easier to assimilate.
The aim for any team (sales team or supplier/customer) is to get as much activity and understanding into Quadrant 1. This is where there is greatest transparency and sharing and where the best communication and co-operation happens. New team members start with fairly small Quadrant 1 because little is known to the team about them so open questions and dialogue are essential to expand this area. Team members can reduce the size of their Blind area (Quadrant 2) by asking for and receiving feedback.
Managers and leaders have a vital role in encouraging healthy feedback amongst groups to ensure that team members develop to their maximum potential. Encouraging active development in Quadrant 1 is a vital component of effective leadership.
Quadrant 2 can be regarded as the Blindspot that we all carry about ourselves. The behavior and attitudes we display that we’re not really aware of. We can reduce this area (increasing our self-awareness) by seeking feedback from others. Managers and leaders who promote a climate of non-judgemental feedback and trust can help everyone involved (individuals or teams) to reduce the size of their blindspots.
Quadrant 3 can be more of a minefield that it might appear. It represents the area where information, feelings, agendas are apparent to “you” but are not “known” to the group or “other”. You must take great care when trying to create greater openness in this area as it involves the individual helping a group or other to accept or consider a viewpoint that they are not aware of and may potentially be unpalatable.
Quadrant 4 represents the area(s) of a relationship in which all parties are self-unaware. This is the hidden zone for all concerned. Given any particular situation, who knows what lies in this region of the model but many of the limiting factors in your operations may have roots in this sector of the relational framework. Managers and leaders may well have to call upon the expert input of coaching or counseling services to help improve development in this area.
You can also use the Johari window to represent the relationships in B2B and B2C scenarios. Why not experiment a little and see what insights may be revealed when you look at the sales relationship using this particular lens.
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