The GROW model provides life coaches with a simple, structured framework to help guide effective conversations with clients. This four-step model helps clients set realistic goals based on their desires and encourages commitment and accountability.
Any life coach can use it, but it’s especially helpful if you’re a new coach. The GROW model gives you a structure to follow during sessions that helps you learn more about your clients, while also helping them learn more about themselves and what they want in life.
We’ll provide you with an overview of this model to better understand how it works, along with practical coaching questions to use at each step.
What is the GROW model?
Sir John Whitmore, Graham Alexander, and colleagues developed the GROW model in the early 1990s as a way to help boost employee performance. But it’s applicable to all coaching clients regardless of background or current situation. The GROW acronym stands for Goal, Reality, Options, and Will—four elements that ultimately inspire clients to strive toward personal development.
G = Goal
This stage helps clients define what they want or hope to achieve. Their intake form might include a general idea of what they’re aiming for, but this step helps them clarify what it is.
The purpose of this stage is to help clients set specific, motivating short-term and/or long-term goals. These goals should be measurable, so you can track clients’ progress and help keep their momentum going.
Examples of questions to ask during this goal-setting stage include:
- What do you want to accomplish by the end of this session?
- What would success look like to you?
- Why is this goal important to you right now?
- How will you know when you’ve accomplished this goal?
- What do you hope to achieve in the long term?
R = Reality
Making sure clients set realistic goals means helping them be honest about where they currently are. Challenges they’re dealing with right now might make their goals unachievable or unrealistic until their situation changes.
For example, someone who wants to achieve a better work-life balance will likely have a hard time reaching that goal if their job requires them to work 60-hour weeks. Depending on their circumstances, clients might not realize why they’re struggling or what’s not working for them.
Part of your role as a life coach is to guide them through this step to help them come to terms with their current reality as it relates to their goals. Encourage clients to reflect on ongoing challenges or patterns that might affect their ability to reach their goals. Have them think about what’s working or not working for them in the present.
Examples of GROW model questions to ask during this stage include:
- What’s happening in your life right now?
- What’s getting in the way of achieving your goal?
- What have you tried so far to make progress toward your goal?
- How have you handled similar circumstances in the past?
- How do you feel about your current situation?
O = Options
Once clients understand the reality of their situation, they can start brainstorming possible paths forward. Encourage clients to think openly and creatively while exploring their options. They might consider taking a different path than they anticipated to reach their goals, or they might come up with unconventional ways to accomplish them.
Agency is a key part of this stage of the GROW model. Clients should feel empowered to think of their own paths or solutions, rather than having you provide them. This self-directed approach helps clients feel more in control, giving them confidence in their ability to achieve what they want.
At this stage, questions should help clients create an action plan, so opt for prompts like:
- What could you try?
- What’s one thing you haven’t considered yet?
- What would you try if money or time weren’t an issue?
- Who might be able to offer you insight on reaching your goals?
- What’s the most creative option you can come up with?
W = Will
Dedication to accomplishing goals and taking responsibility for working on them help improve a client’s chance of success. The fourth step of the GROW model focuses on locking in commitment and accountability, putting clients on the path to changing their lives in meaningful ways.
During this step, help your clients define what they’ll actually do and when. Work with them on setting milestones or smaller goals to aim for on their way to reaching their overall goal. This can help them stay committed to working on change.
Examples of questions to ask during the Will (or Way Forward) stage include:
- What’s your next step?
- On a scale of 1–10, how committed are you to this action?
- What’s the first step you can take today?
- How will you keep up momentum if progress feels slow or hard?
- What will you do to celebrate each goal or milestone you accomplish?
Why the GROW model is helpful for new coaches
It’s not always easy for new coaches to know how to guide clients without taking over the coaching conversation. Clients need to have agency to explore their thoughts and desires and identify their values so they can set realistic goals.
The GROW model offers structure for coaching sessions, allowing clients to engage in self-directed reflection and brainstorming. This framework also helps build confidence in newer coaches who may be unsure about how to guide sessions.
The Jay Shetty Certification School emphasizes a learning mindset and a values-based approach. So the GROW model and similar tools are right in line with our priorities.
These frameworks are a great way to help clients identify any gaps in their knowledge and build a plan to resolve them. And they also help coaches stay present and ask the reflective coaching questions that motivate clients to create change.
Ready to learn and practice the GROW coaching model with knowledgeable mentors? Join the Jay Shetty program today!
How to get started using the GROW model
The GROW model is a practical, straightforward approach to guiding clients toward transformative change. But it does take some getting used to if you’ve never tried it before. Let’s go over a few helpful ways to begin using this framework to boost your coaching confidence and help your clients achieve life-changing goals.
Build comfort before blending in your own style
The GROW model is flexible, so you can mold it to fit your coaching style over time. At first, though, consider following the framework closely to give your coaching sessions structure. This can help you feel more comfortable as a new coach, providing you with steps to guide your clients through.
As you become more confident with this model and your coaching skills, you can use it more intuitively and adapt it to better fit your coaching style. Rather than following it closely, you can use it in ways that best serve your clients. For example, you might come up with specific questions that are more suitable for your clients based on their situation or needs.
The Jay Shetty Certification School supports this gradual integration. Aspiring coaches can practice the GROW model with peers and mentors to improve their technique. Having these opportunities available during training means you can start your coaching practice already knowing how to use the GROW model effectively.
Try it yourself as a journaling tool
You don’t have to wait until you have coaching clients to begin using the GROW framework. You can try it out on yourself first to get a better idea of how it works and how you might adapt it to your coaching style later on.
Consider journaling through all four steps to explore a personal goal. Come up with a goal, reflect on your current situation to make sure it’s an achievable one, brainstorm options for how you might work on it, and write about how committed you feel to achieving it. You might also mention how you’ll hold yourself accountable for making progress.
This shows you what it’s like to go through the GROW model, helping you build empathy for coaching clients and understand what they’re feeling at each stage.
Start with a real-life goal
Go through a practice run of the GROW model in your own personal or professional life. Choose a small, real-life goal, and walk through this coaching framework’s stages to accomplish it. For example, you might set a personal goal to walk or exercise for 30 minutes a day to improve your well-being.
Once you have your goal, identify and address any challenges or obstacles in your path. Think of creative ways to reach your goal, make a commitment to accomplishing it, and come up with a way to be accountable, such as checking in with a friend or peer.
Going through these steps on your own makes the GROW model immediately practical and helps you experience its value firsthand for more effective coaching.
Guide more purposeful coaching sessions with the GROW model
Now that you understand the basics of the GROW model and the kinds of questions to ask, give it a try! Whether you try it on your own or start using it in coaching sessions, this framework is a great way to build motivation to reach goals and continue developing your coaching skills.
To become a truly impactful coach, consider the Jay Shetty Certification School’s approach—blending structure via tools like the GROW model with emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and personal growth. This approach allows you to access the deeper layers that will help you guide others toward meaningful change.
Ready to develop your coaching skills and provide clients with expert guidance? Join our program today!
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