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THE POWER OF READING PEOPLE

change. They help you understand your capabilities and areas for
growth by identifying strengths to enhance and limitations to ad-
dress. However, recognize that these tools also have their boundaries.
Personality and behavior are complex, influenced by a multitude of
factors, and our tool does not capture every aspect. Our focus is on the
behavioral aspects that are visible and the motivations behind them.

For instance, Jule Specht pointed out the challenges in self-assess-
ment due to “blind spots”—areas in our self-awareness that we
cannot objectively evaluate (Specht, 2018). This often leads to a
situation where we understand others better than we understand
ourselves because we can judge their weaknesses and strengths more
objectively than our own.

So, how do we improve self-knowledge? Johari’s Window, created

by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is a helpful model. See Figure 2.

I KNOW, I KNOW,
OTHERS KNOW OTHERS DON’T KNOW

OTHERS KNOW, I DON’T KNOW,
I DON’T KNOW OTHERS DON’T KNOW
(BLIND SPOTS) (UNTAPPED POTENTIAL)

Figure 2: Johari’s Window

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