January 13, 2023
Everyone who’s trained to be a coach is familiar with the GROW framework – an acronym that expands to Genuineness, Realism, Optimism and Wit.
Ok, ok, just checking to see if you’re really paying attention to this 😁
GROW is a framework developed by Sir John Whitmore and team in the 1980s and it’s an extremely helpful way to navigate the flow of a coaching conversation (and many other conversations as well but that’s a topic for another post).
When a coach uses this framework, we are reaffirming to clients that we believe in their capacity to identify what they want for themselves; to reflect on their internal and external reality and to take action to help them bring about the change they want to see.
Given how familiar everyone is with this, I’m going to use this space to talk about some common challenges I’ve seen coaches face with applying it in conversations.
There are many reasons why we don’t do this
I’ve found, time and again, that when we go back over a conversation that didn’t go well, the root cause is likely to be a poorly defined goal. Contracting (the process of establishing agreement with a client on what they want) is a nuanced topic but for now, just keep in mind that it’s important to always start with your favourite variation of these two questions
We’ve all been there. A client says, “I want to think about what I can do to influence my stakeholder”. The coach says “Ok, what can you do?”
If this was a comic strip, the third panel would be the client saying (in a thought bubble, most clients are very polite) “if I knew that, would I be here, you dodo?”
The coach here is coming from a well-meaning space; where they trust the client’s ability to come up with solutions. But it is important to provide the scaffolding – the supportive questions that help a client broaden their thinking. It is in that expanded space that the client can see more solutions.
Take your time helping the client explore reality.
When a client comes up with an idea to resolve their situation, it’s possible (though not always) that this is an idea that has been knocking around their brains for a while. If they haven’t taken action on it, it’s possible that there is something missing.
I find it very helpful to slow some clients down at this stage and ask if there could be any other options that could work.
I’ve been in this situation several times where I recognize there’s only five minutes left in a conversation and there’s just about time to ask “Did you get what you needed?”
Coaching is a process that works because a coach helps deepen the awareness of the client and further the action the client will take post the session. Both parts are equally important.
So make sure you have enough time to ask these questions
Let me know what you think of this post please and do write in if you have questions you’d like me to address here.
GROW is perhaps the simplest and yet the trickiest models I’ve come across. It helps the coach to do a brilliant job, when she doesn’t skid or waver throw the steps. Thank you Sunita for uncovering the blind-spots and the blinding spots in GROW!
Thank you Yatish 🙂
This insight into where most of us need to be mindful of can only come from a Master Coach!! Thanks a huge ton. Can’t wait for the next blog.
GROW model is a powerful for any conversations. Articulation and tying it to coaching questions is carved out beautifully
Totally agree! The GROW model is a great one – simple enough for beginning coaches and yet suitable for all levels of coaching. On the topic of common challenges coaches face, I am reminded of one of the earliest bits of feedback I received, to just “slow it down”, and not to get ahead of client. Great piece.
Soo relatable. I’ve traversed this journey and as a Mentor Coach seeing others traverse the same journey. Lovely articulation. I am going shamelessly reuse it and point people here.
Thank you for this. It is a great refresher and also a reminder of where, over a period of time, as a coach also, we develop patterns and run our own versions of GROW. We need to be mindful of how we use GROW.
Thank you for this well articulated and clear laying out of a coaching session. The blog itself on the whole followed the GROW format:). Waiting to read the next one.