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 denitions have emerged over the years.
The following describes the acronym as dened in the 2009 edition of
Whitmores book:
G
R
O
W

Goal setting for the session as well as for the short and long term
Reality checking to explore the current situation
Options and alternative strategies or courses of action
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 rst session
might usefully be spent exploring the clients 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 ction (which is why we cry at sad lms) 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 specic, 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 ones own goals, however, one tends to aim too low, being limited by
lack of condence or baggage from the past. When coaching, we are enabling
clients to 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 Specic
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 wasnt) to the
future (I m going to resign), taking all of their emotional baggage into
tomorrows 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 nding 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 rst step in a possible chain of actions. If it is not the rst
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 rst
step? How committed are you? What might get in your way? What will it take for
you to commit to that action?