Leadership Series – GROW Model

Shari Walton, Organisational Development Consultant

During 2021 we identified the value in organisations investing in building and nurturing strong, resilient leaders to enable their workplace to prosper.

Our Wellbeing Model is specifically designed to build positive mental health and a psychologically safe environment. Focusing on the leadership sector of the model, transformational leadership consistently encourages the relational components of leadership resulting in employees feeling valued and empowered.  

Transformational leadership is invariably associated with a greater sense of general wellbeing impacting a range of metrics including stress, burnout, sick leave, absenteeism, employee engagement and overall productivity.  

To support our customers, we will be publishing a monthly Leadership series blog covering each of the main transformational leadership capabilities. This series will include a snapshot of the relevant theoretical framework along with practical tips to apply the skill.

GROW Model

The GROW Model is a coaching framework to assist in structuring everyday leadership conversations that unlocks potential and possibilities. The GROW model was created by Sir John Whitmore and colleagues in the late 1980s. It has since become the world’s most popular coaching model for problem solving, goal setting and performance improvement.

Below are some examples of GROW coaching questions you might want to use to begin each stage of the GROW model. The follow-on questions during your coaching conversation will be determined by the dialogue you are having with your coachee at any one point in time. These GROW coaching questions provide examples to help illustrate the different stages of GROW and might help you get started with coaching conversations.

Goal - What do you need to achieve? 

• What is important to you right now?
• What would you like to get from this discussion?
• What areas do you want to work on?
• What specific things would you like to achieve?
• SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant/Realistic, Time bound
• What will make you feel this time has been well spent?

 Reality - What is happening now? 

• What is your current situation?
• Where are you now in relation to your goal?
• What has contributed to your success so far?
• What skills/knowledge/attributes do you have?
• What is working well right now?
• What is holding you back from moving forward?

Options - What could you do? 

• What are your current options?
• How have you tackled this or a similar situation before?
• What could you do differently?
• Who do you know who has encountered a similar situation?
• If anything was possible, what would you do?
• What else?

Wrap up? - What will you do? 

• Which options work best for you?
• What one small step are you going to take now?
• When are you going to start?
• Who will help you?
• How will you know you have been successful?
• How will you ensure that you do it?

The GROW model will help you structure any conversation you have with a team member or other colleague that is designed to encourage change and facilitate personal or professional development. Reach out to your Relationship Manager to arrange a consult with our Organisational Development Team.

 

Shari Walton is an enthusiastic solution focused senior Organisation Development Consultant with extensive experience designing, developing, and implementing a broad range of Leadership Development, Talent Management, and other Learning and Organisation Development interventions that drive change and support individual, team and business success.

Shari has over 30 years’ experience in the organisation development field across Finance, IT and Higher Education sectors. This experience is complemented with formal qualifications in Human Resources, Learning & Development, Executive Coaching, along with a Graduation Diploma in Communication Management, and a Diploma in Holistic Wellness Coaching.