Growth = Awareness × Responsibility | Part 1: The Foundation

It’s Friday. Another week of back-to-back meetings. You worked hard, stayed late, did “all the things”…and the needle didn’t move. You’re capable. You care. But progress feels…random.

Payday came and went. You tracked the spend, color-coded the budget, swore this month would be different… but the balance looks the same. You’re disciplined. You show up. Yet change feels… random.

Another “let’s talk” went sideways. You listened, chose your words, breathed… and ended up tired, not closer. You love them. You’re trying. But progress feels… random.

Time doesn’t grow us. Fundamentals do.

Most of us assume growth is automatic — like a child getting taller, time will do the job. Then months pass, and the same patterns show up.

This isn’t a character flaw. It’s an operating system problem. 

I’ve coached leaders and built systems long enough to learn this the hard way: time doesn’t grow us — fundamentals do.

Think of growth as reading the Map (Awareness) and climbing the Ladder (Responsibility).

Welcome to the first of a 3-part series, Part 1 lays the base. Parts 2 & 3 dives deeper and hands you tools.

What do we mean by “growth”?

To grow is to flourish, increase, develop, or thrive. Whether we’re talking plants, people, or potential, growth has always meant increase or development. It’s not guaranteed by the passage of time; it’s earned by the choices and practices we put in place.

I’ve spent 15 years across construction, e-commerce, BPO, education, and the non-profit industries – coaching and managing senior leaders, working with C-level executives, shipping complex transformations, and leading communities. Along the way I earned an Executive MBA and executive education at top schools. Through all of it, one pattern keeps proving itself: every meaningful transformation (aka growth) stands on two pillars – Awareness and Responsibility.

The two pillars of growth that change everything:

Responsibility – choosing to do something about it

Awareness –  knowing what needs to change

The 2 Pillars of Growth – Awareness and Responsibility

The Map – Awareness & blind spots

“We see things not as they are but as we are.” — Anaïs Nin

As humans, we see everything through lenses — however involuntarily.  These lenses are shaped by our experiences, our reactions to those experiences, and the memories we form around them. While often helpful, they also carry blind spots — because our experiences and journeys are uniquely our own.

Did you know that the human field of view is approximately 200 degrees horizontally and 135 degrees vertically?  

There is a lot that we cannot see from our lenses or as with the human field of view – without moving our eyes or head.

As humans, everyday, our lenses miss the mark in many ways. I will categorize these into four (non-exhaustive) categories. (I will leave a few of the examples across these categories at the bottom of this piece, just so you could breeze through and check if you are free of all of them.)  

• Perceptual/Attentional: we miss what we don’t look for ^[1]
• Cognitive/Metacognitive: we misread our own thinking ^[2–4]
• Social/Affective: others see what our emotions hide ^[5–6]
• Structural/Organizational: incentives & silos hide signals ^[7–8]

My point?  Blind spots are an every-human, everyday reality.

The Johari Window

One framework I’ve leaned on over the years to explore and address blind spots is the Johari Window. We’ll dive deeper into it in Part Two.

My favorite way to approach this model is by considering the intersection of two things:
knowledge — the understanding, familiarity, or awareness of facts —
and visibility — how visible those facts are to you and to others.

In this context, knowledge breaks into two parts:

• what is known to you
• what is known to others

Visibility, on the other hand, shows up in four quadrants:

• Open
• Blind
• Hidden
• Unknown

The goal? To expand the Open quadrant — where both you and others are aware — because that’s where trust, growth, and clarity live.

The Johari Window

Iṣẹ ya (micro-action) – Ask someone you trust or reflect deeply:

What’s one behavior that, if I improved it this month, would increase my impact?
Then share one intention you’ve been holding back. This would expand your ‘open’ area.

What’s one assumption you’ve been operating under that might not be serving you anymore? Share it. Challenge it. This could be a way to step into the ‘unknown’ area.

What’s one thing about how you work or lead that others may see – but you don’t? Ask for feedback. One honest sentence can shrink your Blind area.What’s one thing you’ve been keeping back to stay safe? Try saying it out loud. Shrinking the Hidden area starts there.

The Ladder — Responsibility & the 5Cs

I’ve always appreciated how the word responsibility breaks down so cleanly: the ability to respond. It demands action. It’s not just something you hold – it’s something you do.

Let’s say — just for a moment — that despite all the blindspots, you have gotten honest enough to see what needs to change. That’s a start. But seeing isn’t the same as stepping. Growth still needs motion.

And here’s where it gets real: Knowing what to do isn’t the hard part. Doing it is.

Even when we are aware, something often holds us back. Five frictions stall us at the edge of action:

• Clarity – What does good even look like? Who owns it?
  
• Capability – Do I have the skills? The tools? The feedback loop?
  
• Confidence – Can I do this? Who am I if I fail?
  
• Context – Is the environment helping—or quietly resisting change?
  
• Capacity – Even if I wanted to… do I have the time? The energy?

Here’s the truth:
Growth is the outcome of action, but action needs more than awareness. It needs responsibility — the willingness to respond to what you now see.

So if you’re still here – reading this – then I already know two things about you:
You want to make a difference.
And you’re capable.

Which means you have everything you need to widen your field of view…and start climbing.

The next steps? That’s what we’re doing next – together.

Iṣẹ ya (micro-action)  

Quick 5-minute self-audit & self-reflection: Think about an area you would want to grow in & ask yourself

Which one of the 5 Cs (Clarity, Capability, Confidence, Context & Capacity)is my biggest blocker this month?

What’s the smallest next step I can take before tomorrow?

Growth isn’t guaranteed by time; it’s earned through Awareness × Responsibility.

If we have established that growth is a function of the action we take based on what we know or see, and we have also established that we are more ‘blind’ than we think. What then is the way out?

Next up:
• Part 2 (Awareness/Map)
• Part 3 (Responsibility/Ladder) 

#Leadership #GrowthMindset #Strategy #OperationsExcellence #LearningAndDevelopment #ChangeManagement #CareerDevelopment #TheKayodeKOLADE

About the author

Kayode Kolade helps organisations connect strategy to delivery—with clarity, structure and heart. A strategy & transformation executive and career & executive coach, he designs operating systems, governance rhythms and enablement that scale sustainably across regions. Over 14+ years he has led cross-country programmes, complex turnarounds and people-centred change in high-growth contexts across Africa and globally.

Kayode writes and speaks across strategy, systems & scale, people, culture & performance, transformation & operations, organisational design & operating models, career clarity & executive coaching, and leading with purpose—from Africa to the world. His work blends rigour with humanity, often closing with Iṣẹ ya micro-actions leaders can apply immediately.

He holds an Executive MBA (Rotterdam School of Management), executive education from Cambridge Judge and MIT Sloan, is a PMP® credential holder, a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management (UK), and an ICF coach. Away from work he enjoys photography, mentoring and writing.

Endnotes

[1] Simons, D. J., & Chabris, C. F. (1999). Gorillas in our midst: Sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception, 28(9), 1059–1074.

[2] Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84(3), 231–259.

[3] Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121–1134.

[4] Pronin, E., Lin, D. Y., & Ross, L. (2002). The bias blind spot: Perceptions of bias in self versus others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(3), 369–381.

[5] Luft, J., & Ingham, H. (1955). The Johari Window: A graphic model for interpersonal relations. (See overview summaries for practitioners.)

[6] Lerner, J. S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P., & Kassam, K. S. (2015). Emotion and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 799–823.

[7] Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 769–783.[8] Galbraith, J. R. (1974). Organization Design: An Information Processing View. Interfaces, 4(3), 28–36.