GROW model
2013-11-01 Tampere Coaching Circle
Jarno, Juhis, Lauri
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Principles & setup
Page 2

What is coaching
"Coaching is unlocking people's
potential to maximize their own
performance."
Teaching
Mentoring, giving
instructions, and telling
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Helping to learn
Asking, listening,
and sharing

See people in terms of their potential, not performance –
it will be a self fulfilling prophecy
Potential
performance
Pygmalion/Rosenthal
effect
Current
performance
Also works in the
opposite direction,
called the golem
effect
• Greater expectations placed
upon people lead them to
perform better
• Supported by empirical
evidence, from e.g. business,
military, education
Potential
performance
“The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally
false conception come true. The specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite
the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning. Such are the perversities of social logic.”
-Robert Merton, 1948
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Awareness is a prerequisite for
empowerment
Awareness
Empowerment
 The state or ability to perceive, to
feel, or to be conscious of events,
objects, or sensory patterns.
 Being aware of something is a
necessary precondition for
controlling it.
 Includes gathering and
understanding the relevant facts.
 You cannot control something you
are not aware of.
 Includes the ability to make
distinctions.
Empower
To equip or supply with an ability; enable.
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Responsibility
“The act of
responding; reply
or reaction”
Response
Ability
“The quality of being able
to do something, especially
the physical, mental,
financial, or legal power to
accomplish something.”
Taking responsibility:
Focusing on one’s role in a situation or problem, with the
obligation to act in response, towards attaining a
successful conclusion.
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Choice separates man from machine
Stimulus
Response
Stimulus
Response
Machines
People
Choice
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Presence of choice is required for true feeling of
responsibility for one’s actions and thoughts
Responsibility by choice
 Responsibility that is e.g. accepted,
chosen, or taken
 Leads to commitment and selfmotivation – they lead to improved
performance
 People do because they choose to
Responsibility by something else
 Responsibility that is e.g. ordered,
told, expected to appear, given but
not truly accepted by choice
 Leads to lack of commitment and
motivation
 Leads to blame
 E.g. when someone is ordered to
perform a task in a specific way,
and failure results, he who gave
the instructions will usually be
blamed for failure.
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In order to effectively apply GROW, listening
is usually needed
More effective listening
Listen selectively to
points you want to
hear, e.g. those that
affirm your ideas.
Pretend you are
listening while you
just wait for your
turn to speak.
Selective
listening
Pretended
listening or
patronizing
Empathic
listening
Attentative
listening
Listen
attentatively
while still
interpreting
everything in
your own frame
of reference.
Ignoring
Your own frame of reference
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Coachee’s frame
of reference
Get out of your
world - your
beliefs, thoughts,
and ideas. Get
into the world
and viewpoint of
the coachee.

We are trying to build awareness and responsibility, there
are some different ways to go about it
1
Demanding
2
Asking closed questions
3
Asking open questions
 Pay attention to the ball!
(Awareness)
 Do you watch the ball?
(Awareness)
 At what height is the ball
coming at you?
 You are accountable for the
success of this project!
(Responsibility)
 Should you be accountable
for the success of this
project? (Responsibility)
 How would accountability
for this project contribute
to your carreer?
 Usually just down right
useless.
 Require yes/no answers,
are an invitation not to
think.
 Require descriptive
answers, force coachee to
think.
Good coaching questions
• Are open-ended
• Require descriptive answers
• Usually begin with words that seek to
gather information, such as what, when,
how much
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Good questioning
• Should begin broadly and increase the level
of detail gradually
• Should follow the thinking pattern of the
coachee
• Is a spontanious process

GROW
Goal, Reality, Options, Will
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GROW – help coachee build self belief by
raising awareness and responsibility…
…about
Help coachee to…
Goal
…define a clear goal or future state
Reality
…understand where he is now and how that differs from the goal
Options
…explore what can be done to move from reality to goal
Will
…choose appropriate action steps based on options, and commit to them
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Goal
Content
Define a goal for the session
Find the end goal
Find accompanying performance goal if applicable
How-to’s
Goals should be structured properly (e.g. SMART – Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound)
Goals should be stated in the positive – you get what you focus on
Example
questions
What would you like to accomplish in this session?
What would success look like to you?
How would you know the problem has been solved?
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Reality
Content
Clarify the current reality
Clarify what has already been done
How-to’s
For business, reality usually includes facts, figures, action steps taken,…
For sports body awareness is usually involved
Use questions that enforce thinking and require high focus
Answers should be descriptive, not judgmental
Example
questions
What actions have you taken so far?
What was last week’s average lead time?
In what way do you inhibit your potential?
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Options
Content
Create alternative courses of action to move towards the goal
Prioritize alternative courses of action based on feasibility, cost, benefits
How-to’s
Support creativity, avoid criticism and ridicule
Quantity is more important than quality in order to find the global optimum
If you would like to suggest something to the coachee, ask for permission
Example
questions
What could be your first step?
What would happen if you did that?
What if that obstacle did not exist?
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Will
Content
Convert coaching discussion into a decision on actions to take
Formulate an action plan based on options
Reach commitment to act
How-to’s
Go for specificity, especially about timing - it makes the commitment real
Check for obstacles, and coach on them as appropriate
Be ready to change the goal if needed
Example
questions
What are you going to do?
What support do you need?
Who needs to be informed?
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