THE HANDBOOK OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED COACHING: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Chapter 29: The Grow Model

In the 1970s, Tim Gallwey, a Harvard graduate on sabbatical as a tennis coach, noticed that his
students seemed to be more successful at teaching themselves than by learning from an instructor.
Gallwey ’ s work (see, for example, Gallwey, 1997 ) was discovered by an English baronet and ex -
racing driver, Sir John Whitmore, who opened a tennis and ski school to develop the techniques.
Eventually Whitmore ’ s team was invited by corporations to inject a day of tennis coaching into
their management training courses to help managers embrace the principle of self - directed
learning. The GROW model, which sets the pattern for the coach’ s questions, emerged from a
group that included Sir John Whitmore, who later popularized it in his book Coaching for
Performance.

GROW is an acronym for which various definitions have emerged over the years. The following
describes the acronym as defined in the 2009 edition of Whitmore’s book:

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 courses of action
W What is to be done, When, by Whom, and the Will to do it

Other versions in existence include TGROW, with Topic at the start and the W standing for Wrap
up.

The GROW model is a useful framework for any activity, not only in coaching conversations but
also in project management, disciplinary exchanges, and life in general. It enables people to think
clearly and keep moving forward toward positive solutions and achievements.

Goal
In effective GROW coaching, establishing the goal means far more than simply asking the client
what he or she wants to achieve. The whole of the first session might usefully be spent exploring
the client’s goals, which may at the end of that time be quite different from the ones with which
the client came into the session.

We often run our lives according to agendas set by others — parents, teachers, or bosses. We aim
for what we think we should achieve rather than what we want to achieve. However, if we can
identify what we really want, in line with our own values, interests, and talents, not only are we
more likely to achieve the goal, but the experience along the way will be a lot more fun.

Goal questions throw the focus of attention forward, past barriers and self - limiting beliefs. A
technique widely used by professional golfers is to imagine hitting the winning shot. This is based
on the dual theories that the brain is unable to tell fact from fiction (which is why we cry at sad
films) and that every time we repeat an action we ingrain a new habit. Therefore, by picturing the
winning shot, we are tricking our brains not only into believing we have done it, so that it will be
easier a second time, but also creating the neural pathways of a new habit.

The original SMART goal setting model was created for managers to set targets for their teams.
SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable/agreed, realistic/relevant, and time bound.
When one sets goals for others, one tends to aim too high, hence the “achievable” and “relevant”
elements of SMART. When one sets one’s own goals, however, one tends to aim too low, being
limited by lack of confidence or baggage from the past. When coaching, we are enabling clients to

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set goals for themselves, so a slightly different model is required. One adaptation developed for
coaching is the EXACT model (Wilson, 2007). The following is a comparison between SMART and
EXACT.
S Specific E Explicit
M Measurable X Xciting
A Achievable/Agreed A Accessible
R Realistic/Relevant C Challenging
T Time bound T Time framed

The limiting elements of SMART are replaced by “challenging” to stretch clients past their own
limiting beliefs. Also, whereas a SMART goal can be negative ( “ Get out of the bottom division ” ),
an EXACT goal has to be positively framed ( “ Get into the top division ” ), which encompasses the
solution focus of coaching, directing our minds to where we want to be instead of what we want
to get away from.

Reality
Reality is the part that is missing in everyday conversation. People tend to leap straight from the
past (“He said I was always late, so I said I wasn’t”) to the future (“I’ m going to resign”), taking all
of their emotional baggage into tomorrow’s decision. Reality questions enable clients to step off
the emotional track, gain some new perspectives, and make decisions from a calmer state of mind.

Options
The purpose of this stage is to brainstorm all possible ideas, not just the ones that are immediately
obvious. Having recognized what stands in their way, clients are capable of being very creative in
finding ways to move forward.

Will
This is the part of the GROW model where awareness and new insights are pinned down to
practical action. Will is about discovering what a client will commit to doing, not just compiling a
list of possible actions. An effective action is one that excites and motivates the client, is simple
and clear with a single focus, and is the very first step in a possible chain of actions. If it is not the
first step, confusion is liable to set in, and the client will procrastinate.

The following are sample GROW questions:

Goal: What do you want? Over what time frame? How will you know when you have achieved it?
Imagine you have achieved it: What do you see, hear, and feel?

Reality: What is happening at the moment? How important is this to you? If an ideal situation is
10, what number are you at now? What impact is this having on you? on others? What are you
doing that is working toward your goal? What are you doing that is getting in the way of your
goal?

Options: What are your options? What could you do? What else? What might someone else do in
your position?

Will: What will you do? How, when, and where will you do that? What is your first step? How
committed are you? What might get in your way? What will it take for you to commit to that
action?