(photo)                               What kind of relationship do you want to develop with your customer?  Suppliers?  Stakeholders?

I just finished reading  Tom Asacker'ss new book, A Clear Eye for Branding. 

In fact, I read it twice...it's that powerful. 

In it, Tom mentions the Johari Window.  Tom suggests using The Johari Window as a model for increasing brand effectiveness by giving ourselves fully to our customers while keeping our expectations and responsiveness open.  In other words, learn to increase the bond of trust between your company and your customer.

If you're like me and you haven't heard of this model, check it out.  While it was developed for individual and team use, it can also be used to help improve your brand, as Tom suggests.

The Johari Window is a four-quadrant model used to improve self-awareness and to describe interpersonal  communication in simple terms.  It's a model to improve understanding between individuals, especially in teams.

The Johari Window was developed by Joseph Luft and Joseph Ingham in 1955 while researching group dynamics at the University of California.  A four paned "window" divides how we interact with one another into four areas, or "panes:" open, hidden, blind and unknown.

Each quadrant represents personal information about a person and reveals information that is "open" or "closed." 

The "open" window is what is know by me and what others about me.  The "hidden" area is what I know about myself but others do not know about me.  The "blind" window is what is unknown to me but know by others.  The "unknown" area is what is unknown by me and what others do not know about me.

How "open" is your corporate film? 

Tom