From the course: Teamwork Foundations

Be aware of your blind spot

From the course: Teamwork Foundations

Be aware of your blind spot

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- Self-knowledge is one of the keys to success in life because without it, you won't be able to use your strengths and avoid being let down by your weaknesses. So a great step towards being a better team member is to ask for feedback. Previously, we've been looking at the Johari Window, with its combination of what you know about yourself and what other people know about you. And we looked particularly at the facade, the part of you that you've decided to hide from others in your team. But what about the blind spot? The part the others can see, but you can't? Maybe they all think that you're boring or annoying, or maybe something good, like clever, and you don't realize. So there can be good or bad things in your blind spot. Would you like to know what's in your blind spot? If I'd done some research amongst your friends and colleagues and I could tell you? I hope you're thinking yes. Because actually, it would be great to hear the good stuff, and useful to hear about the bad stuff so that you could make changes. I think that fear of what's in the blind spot is usually worse than what's really there. So finding out what actually feel good, but it takes courage to reduce your facade and to show the real you. And it also takes courage to ask and find out what's in your blind spot. But in order to be a great team player, you need to do both of these. So if you disclose more of yourself, and also seek feedback, then the area known by everybody, the arena, gets larger. And this is the effective working area that a team can use in order to perform well. If I've got a short temper, or I'm hopeless at detail, or I'm brilliant at coming up with new ideas under pressure, all these things need to be known by me and my teammates, don't they? Now, one final thought. If you reduce your facade and your blind spot, you will not only enlarge the arena, but you'll also edge into the unknown. Is there anything that you don't know about yourself, and nobody else knows about you either? And the answer is yes. This is really your unexplored potential. This is you as President of the USA, or a famous author. You don't know you can do it. And nobody else knows you can do it. But actually, you can. So we know it's a good idea in a team to reduce your facade. But now let's think about reducing your blind spot as well. How can you find out a bit more about what's in your blind spot? What do people really think about you? Who could you ask about yourself to find out your weaknesses and your strengths. And remember, you may have to look for clues in the answers. If someone says, you can maybe explain your plan a bit more clearly, then you're probably rubbish at communicating. Or if somebody says, you can maybe give them a bit more freedom in how they do their part of things, then you're probably a control freak. And you need to look carefully for those clues. Because people don't often come right out and say what they think, especially if it's critical. If they actually do, then you should value it, rather than write them off as stupid or rude or wrong, which is sometimes a tempting option when we're being criticized. So promise that after this video, you'll take the courage to ask for feedback, so that you can then become the best you that you can be.

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