Examples Of GROW Coaching Questions

Here are some examples of GROW coaching questions you might want to use during each stage of the GROW model. They certainly aren’t intended as an exhaustive list and the questions you will ask 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 do however serve as examples to help illustrate the different stages of GROW and support the page which explains the GROW coaching model.

Solo Build It!

Goal

  • What do you want to achieve?
  • What is important to you right now?
  • What would you like to get from the next 30 minutes?
  • What areas do you want to work on?
  • Describe your perfect world
  • What do you want to achieve as a result of this session?
  • What will make you feel this time has been well spent?

Reality

  • Where are you now in relation to your goal?
  • On a scale of 1 -10 where are you?
  • What has contributed to your success so far?
  • What skills/knowledge/attributes do you have?
  • What progress have you made so far?
  • What is working well right now?
  • What is required of you?

Options

  • What are your options?
  • How have you tacked this/ a similar situation before?
  • What could you do differently?
  • Who do you know who has encountered a similar situation?
  • Give me 5 options
  • If anything was possible what would you do?
  • What would your best friend /mother suggest?
  • What else?

Wrap up

  • Which options work best for you?
  • What one small step are you going to take now?
  • What actions will you take?
  • 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?
  • On a scale of 1 -10 how committed /motivated are you to doing it?

Note how all of the questions above are open questions therefore eliciting a response from the coachee of more than a "yes" or a "no".

It's also worth noting that none of the questions above start with the word "why". The reasons for this are that questions that start with the word "why" tend to imply judgement of some sort and this may change the thought process of the coachee.

For example "Why do you want to take this particular approach?" Whilst it is a valid question that will elicit an open response it may also cause the coachee to think that you, the coach, might believe an alternative approach is better.

For this reason, questions starting with the word "why" are best avoided.

Further Reading:

Coaching for Performance, 4th Edition: GROWing Human Potential and Purpose (People Skills for Professionals) by Sir John Whitmore (Paperback - 12 Mar 2002)

Co-Active Coaching, 2nd Edition: New Skills for Coaching People Toward Success in Work and, Life by Laura Whitworth (Paperback - 15 Feb 2007)

See Also:-

Applying The GROW Model
Effective Coaching Models
Coaching Questions Toolkit
TGROW Coaching Model
Free Coaching Tools
Coaching Skills Assessment
Intake Session Checklist

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