Guide6 min read
GROW model questions, with a worked example
The GROW coaching model in plain words: what each stage is for, questions for Goal, Reality, Options and Will, a short worked example of one session, and the mistakes to avoid.
The short answer
GROW is a four-stage shape for a coaching conversation: Goal (what the client wants from this session), Reality (where things are now), Options (what the client could do) and Will (what the client will do, and when). The coach asks questions. The client does the thinking and makes the choices.
GROW became widely known through Sir John Whitmore's book Coaching for Performance, first published in 1992. Graham Alexander and Alan Fine are also credited with its development in the 1980s. It is popular because it is simple to remember and it gives a session a clear start, middle and end.
The four stages
GROW is not a straight line. A client often finds in Reality that the goal is a different one. Go back to Goal when that happens.
Goal questions
The Goal stage agrees what the client wants from this session, and how you will both know they have it. Some coaches also ask about a longer-term goal, so that the session goal sits inside it.
- What would you like to get from this session?
- What would you like to have by the end of our time?
- How will you know we've got there?
- What makes this important to you now?
- If this went really well, what would be different?
Reality questions
The Reality stage looks at the situation as it is now. The aim is for the client to see it more clearly. The coach doesn't need every detail.
- What is happening now?
- What have you tried so far, and what happened?
- What is in your control here, and what isn't?
- How do you feel about it?
- What are you assuming about the other people involved?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, where are you now? What makes it that number and not lower?
Options questions
The Options stage gets as many possible actions as the client can find, before they choose. Hold back your own ideas. If you have one that you really want to share, ask first, and offer it as one option among many.
- What could you do?
- What else? And what else?
- What would you do if there were no limits?
- What would someone you admire do?
- What are the good and bad points of each option?
- Which of these appeals to you most?
Will questions
The Will stage turns the chosen option into a commitment. Some versions call this stage "Way forward". The client sets the action, the time and the measure.
- What will you do?
- When will you do it?
- What could get in the way, and what will you do about it?
- Who can support you?
- How will you know you've done it?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to do this? What would make it more likely?
A worked example
The client and coach below are invented. Priya leads a small team. She has asked a peer coach for help with speaking up in senior meetings.
A fictional GROW session, shortened
Goal
Coach: What would you like to have by the end of our time today?
Priya: A way to get my point across in the Thursday leadership meeting. I always leave with something I didn't say.
Coach: How will you know we've got there?
Priya: If I have one thing I'll actually do this Thursday.
The coach agrees a goal that Priya can reach today, and a measure in her words.
Reality
Coach: What happens in the meeting when you want to speak?
Priya: I wait for a gap. The others talk over each other, so the gap never comes. Then the topic has moved on.
Coach: What have you tried?
Priya: Preparing notes. I have the points. I just don't get in.
Coach: On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you about the content of what you want to say?
Priya: Nine. It's not the content. So it's about getting in, not about being ready.
The scaling question lets Priya see for herself that the problem isn't preparation.
Options
Coach: What could you do to get in?
Priya: Ask the chair to call on me. Send my point before the meeting. Just start talking, like the others do. Sit nearer the chair.
Coach: What else?
Priya: Ask for one agenda item that's mine.
Coach: Which of these appeals to you most?
Priya: The agenda item. Then I don't need a gap.
Will
Coach: What will you do, and when?
Priya: Email the chair today and ask for five minutes on Thursday for the hiring plan.
Coach: What could get in the way?
Priya: She might say the agenda is full. Then I'll ask to go first next week.
Coach: How will you know it worked?
Priya: I say my point on Thursday, out loud, in the room.
The action is Priya's, has a date, and has a back-up plan she chose.
Mistakes to avoid
- Skipping Goal. Without an agreed goal, Reality becomes a long story and the session has no end point.
- Staying too long in Reality. If the client is telling you things they already know, move on: "What would you like to do about this?"
- Offering your option first. The client's first option is usually more useful than your best one, because the client owns it.
- A vague Will. "I'll try to speak up more" is a wish. "I'll email the chair today" is an action.
- Following the letters, not the client. GROW is a shape for the session, not a script. Go where the client needs to go.
GROW and the ACC Exam
GROW isn't part of ICF's model, but its stages sit close to the ICF Core Competencies. One domain of the ACC Exam covers coaching strategies and techniques, so a question can ask how a model such as GROW connects to the competencies. Here is one, an original question in the style of the exam.
Try a question
A coach uses the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will). In the Goal stage, the coach and client agree what the client wants from this session and how they will know they have it. This stage mainly overlaps with which ICF Core Competency?
Show the answer
The answer is D.
The Goal stage clarifies what the client hopes to achieve by the end of the session and how success will be recognised. In ICF terms, that is part of establishing the session agreement, including measures of success. The other competencies support the conversation but are not the main home of this stage.
Based on: ICF Core Competencies 2019, Competency 3 Establishes and Maintains Agreements (3.6, 3.8).
An original question in the style of the ACC Exam, written for Robin. Not affiliated with the ICF.
The Will stage sits close to Facilitates Client Growth: the client turns what they learned into action that they design. Read the 8 ICF Core Competencies, explained with session examples for all eight.
Where this stops
Robin is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). The worked question is original, not a question from the real exam.
For more questions by the job they do in a session, read powerful coaching questions, grouped by what they do.
Try it with another coach
GROW is easy to learn from a page and harder to use live. Run one GROW session with another coach this week, then swap roles. Peer coaching on Robin is free.
Find a coach for peer coachingSources
- John Whitmore, Coaching for Performance (first published 1992): the book that made the GROW model widely known.