The GROW Model is a coaching framework developed by Sir John Whitmore (2007) and his colleagues. It can be used in daily leadership activities, such as performance reviews, goal setting and everyday meetings, to unlock potential and possibilities.
Goals
The goal is what you agree the action to be. it can come from you or from the person being coached.
Questions to ask
- So, what is the goal you’ve set for yourself?
- How will you know you’ve been successful? What does success look like?
- Why do you want to achieve this goal?
- How important is it for you to achieve this?
Reality
Reality is to agree ‘Where are you NOW?” and ‘What have you done to get there?‘. You both need to agree on where the person being coached is NOW before planning to move forward. Invite self-assessment, offer specific examples of feedback and avoid or check assumptions. Make sure you discard irrelevant history.
Questions to ask
- Talk me through what’s happening now.
- What led up to this situation? What barriers or obstacles have you faced?
- Why did you make that decision? What influenced you to behave that way?
- How has this situation affected you? Why did you take that approach?
Options
The options are the different ways they can reach the new goal you have agreed upon. If possible, cover the full range of options, invite suggestions from the being coached and offer suggestions carefully. In the end, ensure choices are made.
Questions to ask
- So, what do you think your options are?
- What’s the best/worst thing about that option?
- If you didn’t have any restrictions or constraints, what would you do?
- What would your customer suggest? What do you think I would suggest?
- What other approaches might bring you success with this?
Will, Way Forward, Wrap-up
The way forward is all about ensuring they DO SOMETHING, or else all your time and energy will have been wasted. Identify possible obstacles and how to overcome them, agree on support, make steps specific, and define timing.
Questions to ask
- What will you do?
- When are you going to start?
- What actions are you going to take?
- Who will help you?
- How are you going to make sure you do it?
- On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you of achieving this?
Do’s
- Slow down the conversation.
- Listen, build rapport, and focus on the coachee.
- Ask why? Why? Why?
- Spend more time to understand the goal (the motivation) fully.
Don’t’s
- NEVER judge the person you are coaching or their situation.
- Do NOT ask multiple questions - ask 1 question at a time.
- DO NOT ASK LEADING QUESTIONS where your question contains a “hint” at the ‘expected’ answer.
References
- Whitmore, J. (2017). Coaching for performance : The principles and practice of coaching and leadership. 5th ed. London: Nicholas Brealey.