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Coaching approaches

How a GROW coaching session runs

A GROW coaching session follows four stages: the goal, the current reality, the options, and the will to act. The model is usually credited to John Whitmore, Graham Alexander and Alan Fine, and it appears in coaching handbooks and reference works. Research on the model by itself is scarce. The only study of GROW itself found in this search is a small before-and-after study with teachers (Albano & Quinito, 2025), and the meta-analyses found test coaching in general rather than GROW-structured sessions.

What it is

A GROW session is a structured conversation. The coach asks about the goal (what you want), the reality (where things stand now), the options (what you could do), and the will (what you will commit to, and when). The order is a guide, and conversations often loop back to an earlier stage when new information appears.

The structure is simple enough to use in a short conversation or a longer one. Because it is a sequence of questions rather than a diagnosis, the content comes from you: the coach supplies the order, and you supply the goal, the facts and the choices.

Where it comes from

The model is usually credited to John Whitmore, Graham Alexander and Alan Fine. No dated original of the model was traced in the sources checked for this page.

Modern descriptions appear in reference works on coaching and mentoring (Hoidn, 2021; Yates, 2022).

The principles underneath

Goal first

The session starts with what you want, stated as specifically as you can, so the rest of the conversation has a direction.

Reality before options

Describing where things stand now, with facts and what you have already tried, comes before generating ideas. Many people move to solutions before the situation is clear.

Options before choice

Listing several options, including ones that feel unlikely, keeps the choice open until you are ready to commit to one.

Will turns options into action

The last stage asks what you will do, by when, and what might get in the way.

How a session runs

  1. Goal: say what you want from the session and what would make it worth your time.
  2. Reality: describe where things stand now, what has already been tried, and what is getting in the way.
  3. Options: list as many possible next steps as you can, without judging them yet.
  4. Will: choose one or two steps, decide when you will take them, and name what might stop you.
  5. Review: at the next session, start with what happened when you tried them.

When it tends to fit

  • You have a goal but cannot see the first step, and you want an order of questions to work through.
  • You have been circling a decision, such as whether to take on a new role, and need to lay the options out.
  • You want to plan one specific action, with a time and a way to tell whether it happened.

What the research shows

Evidence: Practitioner tradition — little or no outcome research

The only study of GROW itself found in this search is Albano and Quinito's 2025 article. Its abstract describes eight mentee teachers and eight mentor teachers at one school, with teacher performance measured before and after coaching and mentoring using the GROW model, and it reports a significant difference over that period. The abstract describes a before-and-after comparison and does not describe a control group. The authors describe GROW coaching as extremely effective on goal-setting, reflection, feedback and support, and action planning. The model appears in reference works on coaching and mentoring (Hoidn, 2021; Yates, 2022). The nearest research is on coaching in general. A meta-analysis of workplace coaching examines learning and performance outcomes (Jones et al., 2016), and a meta-analysis of coaching in organisations examines individual outcomes (Theeboom et al., 2014). Neither is a test of GROW sessions specifically.

Where the evidence is thin: The meta-analyses cover coaching in general. The reference works describe the model rather than test it. The 2025 study is small, took place in one school, and its abstract describes a before-and-after comparison without a control group, so it cannot show that GROW itself produces the results it reports. Whether GROW-structured sessions produce the same results as other coaching is not established by the research found here.

Sources

  1. Hoidn, S. (2021). The GROW Model of Coaching and Mentoring. In Coaching and Mentoring. SAGE Publications.
  2. Yates, J. (2022). The GROW model. In The Career Coaching Handbook (pp. 118–127).
  3. Albano, R. L. S., & Quinito, D. I. (2025). Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward (Grow) Model: Bridging Content Knowledge and Pedagogy on Coaching and Mentoring Strategy. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science.
  4. Jones, R. J., Woods, S. A., & Guillaume, Y. R. F. (2016). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta‐analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(2), 249–277.
  5. Theeboom, T., Beersma, B., & van Vianen, A. E. M. (2014). Does coaching work? A meta-analysis on the effects of coaching on individual level outcomes in an organizational context. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(1), 1–18.

Where it stops

The model is a sequence of questions. It does not examine why a goal has stalled. Where something is blocking you emotionally or affecting your health, a qualified professional is better placed to help.

Moving quickly to options and will can skip over feelings or history that need more time. If a goal is tied to distress that does not ease, a therapist or doctor is a better first step.

A session that ends with a plan can still fail if the plan does not fit your circumstances. Review the will step at the next session rather than assuming it worked.

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