The Solicitors' Coach

USING THE ‘GROW’ MODEL FOR YOUR GOALS

Since first putting on my website visual aids to stimulate a greater understanding of what coaching is and how to use it to achieve goals I've been asked to share the GROW Coaching Model again. Below is a pdf of the ‘GROW’ Model which many coaches use as part of their toolkit to assist Clients.

The ‘GROW’ Model is probably one of the most straightforward models to work with as it has all the essential features required to create a specific and unique plan of action but is simple to use.

Coaching is all about planning to achieve your Goals. The model is broken down into five parts:

1. ‘Topic’ – What is the subject matter of the coaching session? This may be something along the lines of: securing a training contract; changing discipline; becoming better organized; increasing business; upskilling etc.

2. ‘Goal’ – Once the subject matter, Topic, for the session is clear, then ‘Goals’ you want to achieve can be identified. This may be difficult to articulate at first because sometimes we all need to think and talk around our Goals before coming up with the words which describe exactly what it is we want. This is your opportunity to really explore what matters to you and why (remember last month we spoke of having a strong enough reason to achieve your Goals to maintain motivation to do so? Well, this is where you can consider just how much you really want that Goal).

3. ‘Reality’ – Your Goal may seem like a distant dream or even unrealistic at first, but keep with it. Where are you now? What’s your current position? Don’t worry about how far you seem to be from achieving your Goal …. The gap between is important. So, be honest about the current position and clear about your own starting point.

4. ‘Options’ – What could you do to move from where you are now to where you want to be? Be bold and creative and reassured that you don’t have to do any of them at this stage. Again, this may take some time in coming up with all of the possible actions you could take to achieve your Goal. Think of as many as you can and even the tiniest option could be your starting point … just one small step is all you need to get going.

5. ‘Will’ – This is the part of the model which really needs you to test just how willing you are to act on one or more of your Options. What will you do? Are you resolved, strongly enough, to do it? Here, in this part of the model, is where many clients find out whether they actually want to achieve their Goal. It’s the part which will determine whether what you say you want is what you actually want. For many of us, we may decide that we don’t want to put ourselves out enough to achieve our dreams – we might prefer they remain just dreams. If this is you, then re-think what your Goals are and how much you want them. Don’t be afraid to acknowledge that what you thought you wanted isn’t what you want to materialize in the real world. Discovering that you don’t want something is as important as discovering what you do want. Go back to thinking about what’s important to you and where you want to be in the future and re-work the model until you have a plan of your own which means enough to you to take action.




Kate Tingey MBA
Solicitor & Coach
The Solicitors' Coach
01406 366519
07762 054954