By Andrew C. Loignon
Center for Creative Leadership
John W. Fleenor
Center for Creative Leadership
Summary
The paper examines how the Johari Window framework can be effectively used to enhance 360-degree leadership assessments. While 360 assessments are valuable tools for leadership development, leaders often struggle to make sense of the vast amount of feedback from multiple sources. The Johari Window offers a structured way to organize this information into four categories: consensus (known to self and others), self (known to self only), blind spots (known to others only), and unknowns (unknown to both self and others).
Through empirical research with 491 executives, the study validated that the Johari Window accurately reflects how 360 assessment data naturally clusters. The researchers found that each “pane” of the window contributes meaningful information – consensus provides the highest amount of differentiation between leaders (40-45%), followed by unique blind spots (25-30%), shared blind spots (20-25%), and self-ratings (10-15%). Importantly, the study demonstrated that simplifying the framework by removing any of these categories would reduce its effectiveness in capturing the full scope of leadership assessment data.
The research also found practical applications for using the Johari Window in leadership development. The framework can help introduce and explain 360 assessments to leaders, guide them through systematic reflection of their results, and assist in prioritizing development efforts. Additionally, the study showed that information from the different panes, particularly blind spots, correlates with leadership effectiveness measures like division performance. The authors conclude that the Johari Window provides an empirically-validated framework that helps leaders make better sense of their 360 feedback and engage in more deliberate, systematic reflection for their development.
Citation
Loignon, A. C., & Fleenor, J. W. (2025). Seeing leadership more clearly: Applying the Johari Window to enhance 360 leadership assessments. Center for Creative Leadership. https://doi.org/10.35613/ccl.2025.2058
