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The GROW Model

‘Performance, learning and enjoyment are inextricably intertwined’

Sir John Whitmore

The GROW model of coaching has been designed by Sir John Whitmore and is central to
his best-selling book ‘Coaching for Performance’. This coaching model can be used to
structure mentoring conversations. It is particularly useful when new to mentoring as it
provides a framework within which to hold mentoring conversations that enables you and
your mentee to:

 Ensure the time is being spent on mentees’ goals

 That goals are explored
 Mentee’s self-awareness and awareness is raised
 Solutions, actions and activities are agreed
 There is commitment from your mentee to progress their development

As with all models, when applied in practice you may find that each discreet stage tends to
merge. That’s fine, you just need to take a moment to check, as you go along, that you have
covered each stage.

G – Goal setting for the session as well as for the short and long term
R – Reality checking to explore the current situation
O – Options and alternative strategies, or course of actions
W – What is to be done, when and by whom and the will to do it

Goal Setting
The first stage is to agree and understand the goal that the mentee wants to cover in the
session. This is important! Some questions to help with this are:

What would you like to get out of this session?

We have half an hour for. Where would you like to have got to by then?
What would be the most useful/helpful thing for you to take away from this
session/time?

A goal should be:

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SMART, PURE and CLEAR

Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time phased

Positively stated, Understood, Relevant and Ethical

Challenging, Legal, Environmentally sound, Appropriate and Recorded

Agreeing mentoring goals:

An eight step approach based on Well Formed Outcomes:

Adapted from Mentoring – A Henley Review of Best Practice by Jane Cranwell-Ward, Patricia Bossons and Sue
Gover

1 State what you want in the positive. What do you want?

2 Find out what evidence they need to demonstrate success. How will you know when you have
what you want? How will you look, sound and feel? What will be the same – different? This is a must for
recognizing success

3 Can you start and maintain the process to get what you want? What stops you from having it
right now? What do you need? What is your first step?

4 You presently do things which work, so what part of your present behavior can you use to
get what you want?

5 In what context do you want this? Everywhere or somewhere specific? When do you want it – all of the
time? When, where and with whom do you not want it?

6 What are the costs of what you want? Is it worth the cost to you? What will you gain? What will you
lose?

7 Is it worth the time it is going to take?

8 Is it what you want in keeping with your own purpose, your sense of self and identity?

Reality Checking
Once the goal is set you will need to explore the facts and feelings around the
issue/problem/topic. This exploration is to raise the awareness and self-awareness of the
individual. Awareness is defined as perceiving things as they really are and self-awareness
is recognising those internal factors that distort one’s own perception of reality.

To do this we often we need to tap into the emotions:

 How did you/do you feel about... ?

 What is the predominant feeling when ... ?

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 What do you think you are afraid of?

 Can you give me a rating on a scale of 1 – 10 for your level of confidence in your
ability to do ... ?

One reality question that nearly always contributes value is:

‘What action have you taken on this so far? Followed by

‘What were the effects of that action?’ or, if the answer is nothing! ‘What are the
factors that prevented you from taking action?’

Options
Once your mentee is aware of the reality around the situation they need to think about
actions, solutions and ideas that will help resolve or move the situation forward. Having
options is important as choice enables us to feel in control and empowered. It is even more
powerful if those choices are our own and the choice we make is also our own.

When asked to think about options for taking an issue forward we can be faced with
negativity. This negativity comes from our own limiting beliefs. As a mentor we need to get
people to see beyond these beliefs.

Some very common negative responses are:

 I don’t know
 It can’t be done
 It can’t be done like that
 They would never agree to that
 It’s bound to cost too much/take too much time

To unlock negativity the following ‘what if .. ’ questions may work

 What if you knew the answer? What would it be?

 What if the obstacle didn’t exist? What would you do then?
 What if you did have enough money/time?

The key is to identify the limiting belief; the solutions and choices are then much easier to
find.

What is to be done?
Once the choices for moving forward have been agreed, it is important that the mentee has
fully bought into the action if they are to feel confident in completing it. This stage needs to

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cover the what, when, who (support/involved) and the will to do it. If this is not explored you
may think your mentee has left the session with agreed actions and be surprised to find that
when you next meet that nothing has happened!

Some questions that may help are:

What are you going to do?

When are you going to do it?

Will this action meet your goal?

What obstacles might you meet along the way?

Who needs to know?

What support do you need?

How and when are you going to get that support?

What other considerations do you have?

On a scale of 1-10 how confident are you that will carry out the actions agreed?

What prevents it from being a 10?

What would make it a 10 for you?

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GROW MODEL

• Goal: After discussion, a target to be reached in the session should be

developed.

• Reality: It is important that this session is grounded in reality. The

person being coached should be able to assess their present situation, and
give concrete examples of their performance to date. Feedback should be
provided at this point.

• Options: This stage offers the opportunity for the person being coached
to suggest possible courses of action, and together with any that the coach
puts forward, these should be evaluated and a choice arrived at.

• Will and way forward: The final part of the process involves the person
being coached making decisions and having the willpower to commit to
them. Future steps to be taken should be confirmed and the coach should
agree with the client how they will be supported through the ongoing
development process.

Goal:

• Where would you like to be in …………..?

• What outcome do you want from this process?
• What would be the best outcome from your perspective?
• What would it take for this process to be a success?
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• What would you like to achieve?

• What is it that you would like to talk about?
• What would you like to have happen that is not happening now?

Reality:
• What’s happening for you?
• How are you feeling about what is happening?
• What effect dos this have?
• What is being affected by your feelings about what is happening?
• What would you change about yourself?
• What other factors are relevant?
• Who else is involved?
• What is their perception of the situation?
• What have you tried so far?
• What would you change about the environment?

GROW MODEL Coaching Options:

• How could the situation change?

• What could you do to change the situation?
• What alternatives are there to that approach?
• What approaches have you used in similar situations?
• Who might be able to help?
• How could you improve the situation?
• Do you have any ideas about actions you could take?
• What might happen if you took these options?
• How would you feel after taking these options?
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• Is there any other option that you can think of?

• Which of these suggested options would you like to try?
• Which options do you like the best?
• What might be your next steps?
• How can I support you in your actions?
• What would happen if you did nothing?

Will and way forward:

• How can you put these options into action?
• What would be your first step?
• Are you aware of any obstacles to these actions?
• How do you think you might overcome them?
• What further support do you need?
• Can you think of people who could support you?
• When will you take this first step?
• How will you know you are successful? It is important to be aware that
at all times in this process the client is gently being nudged towards
developing their own action plan rather than being ordered along a certain
route.

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