The GROW coaching model isn’t just a tool for executive coaches, it’s a powerful framework any manager can use to help their team set goals, overcome obstacles, and take ownership of their growth. By building coaching into your one-on-ones and goal-setting conversations, the GROW model helps develop more confident, autonomous employees and a culture of continuous improvement.
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What the GROW Model Stands For
Today, the coaching framework is often used by executive coaches working with entrepreneurs and managers setting goals with their direct reports. Experts say that this model has found such widespread adoption not only due to its flexibility but also because of how well it centers on the person being coached.
Each of the four GROW model steps is done in sequence, with the mentor asking questions and reflecting back their mentee’s answers. Let’s take a closer look at each step.
Goal
Establish what your team is working toward. In the spirit of the GROW model, goals should be SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. It’s helpful for managers and their direct reports to construct goals together to build trust, increase collaboration, and develop autonomy and personal investment in business results.
You could be working toward a difficult goal like improving client retention rates by 12%. Or, if you’re trying to increase efficiency across teams, you could have a soft goal like improving cross-departmental communication. But even a soft goal should be measurable. For example, communication might improve by reducing time spent in meetings by a specific percentage, or accelerating time to market by a set metric year-over-year.
Reality
This step requires an honest assessment between managers and their direct reports of where they are as a team and as a company in relation to their goal. If the goal is to send out a customer newsletter this quarter, do they need to establish executive buy-in? Is marketing automation in place? Are sales and GTM leaders aligned on this initiative?
By reflecting on current reality, teams can create realistic timelines, identify blockers, and determine the best path forward.
Obstacles (or Options)
This is where teams explore what might get in the way of achieving their goals — and how they might work around or through those blockers. Who are the key stakeholders? What information is needed? Are there project dependencies to consider? Could a smaller initiative accomplish the same objective more efficiently?
Enabling team members to identify obstacles and propose options builds confidence, encourages ownership, and supports the development of strategic thinking.
Way Forward (or Will)
After mapping out goals, assessing reality, and identifying obstacles or options, the final step is to create a clear action plan. Managers and individual contributors can define next steps, assign stakeholders, and begin execution.
By thinking through the why, how, and what-ifs, employees stay focused and aligned on what needs to happen — and are better prepared for challenges that might arise.
Why the GROW Model Still Works for Modern Teams
The GROW Coaching Model is actionable and adaptable, key traits in a time of constant change. It remains relevant because it provides a clear structure for navigating ambiguity and empowering employees.
In their article The Leader as Coach, Herminia Ibarra and Anne Scoular noted, “To cope with this new reality, companies are moving away from traditional command-and-control practices and toward something very different: a model in which managers give support and guidance rather than instructions.” The GROW model is one such framework.
Jeffrey Hull, executive director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, said, “The GROW model provides a very practical approach for coaches to move quickly into action with clients by identifying where they want to get to, and then quickly establishing: What were the obstacles? What is the reality? What are the options?”
Good coaching is designed to elicit [the] way forward. It's not about giving advice.
A clinical instructor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, Hull has twenty years of experience partnering with C-suite executives on high-performance leadership, change management, and organizational strategy. When asked about the GROW model, Hull continued, “You start with goals, and then you get to a reality check. Where are you now, where do you want to be? And then, if you're a good coach, you're creating a container in which you're using your intuition, you're listening and motivating the client to get in touch with their own internal motivation.”
By following this approach, team members begin to see themselves as leaders. The GROW model creates clarity, builds accountability, and supports personal development at every level.
How to Implement the GROW Coaching Model With Your Team
Hull noted that the GROW model aligns with the scientific foundation of coaching — specifically, self-determination theory, which emphasizes intrinsic motivation. He explained, “Good coaching is designed to elicit from the client their way forward. It's not about giving advice, it's not about solving the problem. It's about creating the context in which the client is inspired to find their own way — through whatever is in the way of them getting their goal accomplished.”
With that mindset in place, here’s how to bring the GROW Model to life in your organization:
Practice with fellow managers.
Partner with peers to test the model using small, manageable goals — like improving presentation skills. Move through each stage: Goal, Reality, Obstacles, and Way Forward. Then reflect: What felt clear? What was clunky? Where could the coaching approach improve?
Reflect on your team’s goals.
Think through a few development or performance goals for each team member to guide your coaching conversations. Use this prep work to open meaningful dialogue in one-on-ones.
Introduce the model to your direct reports.
Explain the basics of the GROW Model in a team setting, then work through it one-on-one with each person. Choose a specific goal and map it through the framework together.
Track progress and iterate.
Check in on action plans during one-on-ones using tools like Lattice 1:1s. If blockers emerge, revisit the model together and redefine the next steps. Success should feel achievable — and repeatable.
Common Use Cases for the GROW Coaching Model
Planning Sprints
Whether you’re shipping features or launching a campaign, use GROW to co-create project plans:
- What is the goal?
- What’s our current status?
- What are possible challenges?
- What are the next steps?
Iterating and Refining Products
Use the framework to evaluate whether what your team is building matches customer needs. Then identify any gaps in skills, resources, or timelines to avoid missed deadlines or scope creep.
Building Employee Skills
Performance coaching can start with a simple self-reflection:
- What work do I most enjoy?
- Where am I strongest?
- Where could I improve?
Use this insight to co-create individual development plans (IDPs) in Lattice Grow, and build development conversations into your one-on-ones.
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Turn Every Manager Into a Coach With Lattice
Lattice Grow makes development scalable. From IDPs to integrated one-on-ones and goal tracking, it provides the structure and support managers need to coach confidently — and build high-performing teams.
To see how Lattice Grow can help you enable managers, make career paths clear, and empower everyone to reach their goals, request a demo.
Key Takeaways
- The GROW Model is a four-step system for setting and achieving goals.
- The model is often used by executive coaches working with entrepreneurs and managers.
- Under GROW, mentors ask questions and help their mentees discover solutions on their own.
