Change: self awareness can help

One of my favourite models is the Johari window (Luft & Ingham, 1955). It allows us to consider how much we know about ourselves, supports with understanding team dynamics, building trust and is useful from improving communication.

In a coaching conversation, the model gives us the space to reflect on how aware we are of ourselves, our behaviours and our characteristics in relation to others and is particularly useful when considering giving and receiving feedback.

It’s relationship to change can be very powerful. Change can cause different emotions and reactions for us and we often find out blind spots or hidden areas opening during periods of change. It can be hard for a team to gel during change. This model can support how you reflect on yourself and team dynamics and help you understand where you might need to act to develop relationships.

Consider what you learnt about yourself during previous moments of change…

What did you learn about yourself that was new?
Was it positive or negative?
How did you react to learning that?
Did you change something as a result? If you didn’t, why didn’t you?
How did you learn that something new about yourself?
Was it through feedback or through reflection?
Do you think it would have influenced your reaction if you’d learnt it another way?

Now consider the model…

If the change happened when you were part of a team, how did your relationships in the team change?
How much trust did you build as a team? How did that trust develop or disintegrate during change?
Do the examples you have resonate in any particular quadrant?
Have you experienced receiving feedback or reflecting on something that might be in your blind area, particularly during a period of change? How did it feel?
How open was your open area during change?

Next time you go through a period of change, reflect on this model and how you can grow you, your leadership and your relationships with your team.

Reference: Luft, J. and Ingham, H. (1955). The Johari Window: a graphic model for interpersonal relations, University of California Western Training Lab.

Change: building resilience

Sometimes change is intentional but often we are unwilling recipients of change, particularly in organisational contexts. For some, change has negative associations, for others it is the thrill of the challenge and for many it is just to be avoided.

Our response to change is usually different depending on the context and our role in change. We often hear the phrases ‘dealing with change’ or ‘managing change’ which I feel put us on the back foot and assume that the outcomes of change are beyond our locus of control. In fact there is so much within our control when it comes to change and I believe it’s important to consider how we lead in times of change so we feel empowered.

We are in control of how we react to change, how we work with others and what we can do if we really don’t like the change. In order to build resilience consider these questions and tips:

1.Consider your ‘default’ position

By raising your awareness of how you reacted to change in the past, you can preempt how you might react to change in the future and consider how you might want to revise your response to change.

Consider an unexpected change in your life…

How did you react to the change?
How would an observer have described your reaction?
What was positive in your reaction?
What was negative in your reaction?
How did it feel to go through the change?

2. Reframe your thoughts

When you understand your thought process, you can consciously change how you interpret the facts so that you put a different frame on your situation.

Go back to that unexpected change…

What were the opportunities in the change?
What did you believe about yourself/ this situation that is influencing your thinking/ your emotions?
How can you consider this problem a challenge?
If you were looking at the situation from a different perspective, what would you see/ feel?

3. What did you learn?

Take a step back. It is easier said than done during the process of change but consider what you are learning throughout the process. Ask yourself these questions…

What am I learning about myself and my reactions?
What are others learning about me?
Which of my values am I living?
What am I learning about my leadership?

4. Ask for help

If you are finding a period of change difficult, then ask for help. Speak to someone who will listen and support you.

5. Be aware of your influence and control

Don’t wait until a big period of change comes to prepare yourself for change.

Get feedback from others, how do the people around you feel you react to change?

Can you experiment with small changes so that you can test how you flex your resilience to change?

Make a note of what was within your influence and in your control in a previous change, did you maximise opportunities for both?

What is coaching?

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance” (Whitmore, 1992)

Coaching is about helping you to make a change however big or small. The aim of coaching is to encourage sustained emotional, cognitive and behavioural change to help you achieve your goals.

It helps you to unlock the answers to your questions, consider your challenges for different perspectives and plan and implement the change you want to make.

What to expect from your coach

When working with Tagua Coaching, you can expect your coach to:

Support and guide you to set goals;
Discover and align with what you want to achieve;
Encourage self-discovery and raise self-awareness;
Support you to develop your own solutions and strategies;
Hold you responsible and accountable for progress.

While we specialise in career coaching, your work is so much a part of your life that we might naturally explore other aspects of your life, including your beliefs, motivations and past experiences.

As a member of the International Coaching Federation, your coach will also be adhere to the their Code of Ethics and will be engaging in regular continuous professional development to stay up to date with the latest research in coaching.