I Know...

This circle represents everything that you know. It can be everything you know about leadership, people, your organization, or everything you know about everything. The size of each of your slivers will depend on what the circle represents. This circle is also part of your behavior, or how you show up, and it influences how others perceive you.

I know: This piece represents what you know and feel confident about. Others might even consider you a subject matter expert.

I know I don’t know: This represents the things you realize you don’t know. For many of us, this piece gets bigger and bigger as we gain experience and are open to learning. We realize everyday just how much we don’t know. Development and true growth come from this piece.

I think I know, but I don’t: This is where we tend to make assumptions. The question then becomes, how do we make this smaller? The answer might include: training; communication; and, experience. In leader roles, this sliver is also where ego lives. We think we have to know everything, so we pretend we do and, consequently, we lose our authentic style. We tend to lose respect and credibility if we spend too much time here.

I don’t know I don’t know: These are literally the things that we don’t know we don’t know and this sliver is often referred to as the clueless zone. The challenge with this piece is that we don’t know what resides here unless someone else points it out to us or an event occurs that creates an awareness. Here, we don’t intend to offend, but the impact can be offensive because we don’t know. Have you ever asked others with whom you work closely what items are in your clueless zone? I would encourage you to try it sometime; if you are open to it, it can be a very powerful learning opportunity.

Ask yourself these questions:

•    How can I do better?
•   What am I doing that I don’t know?    
•   What am I doing that I don’t see?     
•  What would others say is in my clueless zone?