Coaching Models and Methodologies: Complete Guide

GROW Model: the universal classic

The GROW model, developed by John Whitmore and colleagues in the late 1980s, is the starting point for almost every coach. Its acronym organizes the session into four phases: Goal (target), Reality (current reality), Options (options) and Will (will and commitment). First you define what the client wants to achieve, then you contrast it with where they are today, then you open up alternatives and finally you agree on the step they're committing to.

It's ideal for defined objectives: a career change, a decision, a habit to install. Its strength lies in its simplicity, which is why it works just as well in the first session as in follow-ups. If you're starting out, GROW is the model you should be comfortable with before any other. We develop it step by step in the guide dedicated to the GROW model in coaching, and the short definition is in the glossary entry on the GROW model.

OSKAR Model: solution-focused coaching

Where GROW analyzes reality, OSKAR looks forward. Created by Paul Z. Jackson and Mark McKergow, it comes from the solution-focused approach and its phases are Outcome (desired result), Scaling (scale of 1 to 10 on the current point), Know-how (resources the client already has), Affirm & Action (recognize and agree on actions) and Review (review of progress).

OSKAR shines when the client is stuck or overwhelmed by the problem. Instead of digging into the cause, it asks "what would work" and "what do you already do well." The numerical scale makes it especially useful for measuring small progress between sessions, something that motivates the client who feels far from their goal. It also works with leaders who are blocked, as the guide to executive coaching models shows.

CLEAR Model: depth and contract

The CLEAR model, developed by Peter Hawkins, adds the relational dimension that GROW lacks. Its phases are Contracting (agreeing on the focus and ground rules), Listening (deep active listening), Exploring (exploring impact and options), Action (defining actions) and Review (closing and reviewing).

CLEAR is the natural choice for executive coaching and long-term processes, where the explicit contract and review are as important as the exploration. If you work with executives or in organizational contexts, this model gives you the rigorous framework that client expects. Questions for each stage and a session example are in the guide to the CLEAR coaching model.

STEPPPA, ACHIEVE, FUEL and CIGAR: four more session models

GROW, OSKAR and CLEAR cover most sessions, but these four come up often in coach training and in workplace coaching. Each one solves a specific problem that the classic models leave open.

STEPPPA: when the goal has no energy behind it

Created by Angus McLeod, STEPPPA stands for Subject, Target, Emotion, Perception, Plan, Pace and Act (it is also written STEPPA, with the same content). Its distinctive letter is E: before planning, it checks whether the client really cares about the target. Use it when a client sets goals and then loses interest. You have the full walkthrough in the guide to the STEPPA coaching model.

ACHIEVE: a longer map for business processes

Proposed by Sabine Dembkowski and Fiona Eldridge, ACHIEVE has seven steps: Assess the current situation, Creative brainstorming of alternatives, Hone goals, Initiate options, Evaluate options, Valid action program design and Encourage momentum. It expands GROW with an explicit evaluation step and a final step to sustain progress, which suits multi-session work with managers.

FUEL: the manager as coach

FUEL, described by Jack Zenger and Kathleen Stinnett in The Extraordinary Coach, has four steps: Frame the conversation, Understand the current state, Explore the desired state and Lay out a success plan. It was written for leaders who coach their own people, so it fits short conversations inside a working day.

CIGAR: closing a performance gap

CIGAR runs through Current reality, Ideal, Gaps, Action and Review. Starting from the present and naming the gap explicitly makes it practical for performance conversations, where the client already knows where they need to be and wants to find out what is missing.

Wheel of Life: the visual diagnosis

The wheel of life is not a session model, but the most universal diagnostic tool in coaching. The client rates their satisfaction from 1 to 10 in the key areas of their life (health, work, relationships, money, leisure, personal development) and the result draws a wheel that reveals at a glance where there is imbalance.

It's the perfect tool to open a process: in five minutes it organizes the conversation and helps the client decide where to start. Then you can go deeper with GROW in the chosen area. You have the complete guide in the article on the wheel of life in coaching.

SMART Goals: from desire to actionable objective

A vague intention ("I want to be better") can't be worked with. The SMART methodology converts that desire into a concrete objective: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and with a defined Timeframe. It's the perfect complement to the "Goal" phase of the GROW model.

Any process aimed at results (productivity, habit change, professional goals) benefits from passing the goal through the SMART filter before designing the action plan. Dive deeper in the article on SMART goals in coaching.

Coaching by values and Ikigai: the level of meaning

Not everything is solved with goals. Sometimes the client doesn't know what they want because they don't have clarity on who they are and what matters to them. That's where methodologies centered on values and purpose come in. Values-based coaching helps identify the non-negotiable principles that should guide their decisions, while Ikigai crosses four dimensions (what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for) to find the point where meaning is born.

These methodologies are the foundation of life coaching and career transition coaching. When a client manages to align their goals with their values, motivation no longer needs forced discipline. Explore them in the guide on Ikigai in coaching.

NLP: language, beliefs and patterns

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is more a toolbox than a session model. It works with the relationship between language, thought and behavior: how the words the client uses reveal their beliefs, how to reframe a limiting experience, how to anchor a resourceful state. Tools like reframing, perceptual positions or the meta-model of language come from this approach.

NLP brings depth when the client's obstacle is not one of action but of interpretation: it's not that they can't, it's that they believe they can't. It combines very well with any structural model to dismantle the narratives that hold back progress. To work on that interpretation you can also rely on Albert Ellis's ABC model and Dilts's neurological levels.

Coaching methodologies: solution-focused, cognitive-behavioral, Co-Active and ontological

A methodology is not a sequence of steps but a way of looking at the client. You can run GROW from any of these four approaches, and the session will feel different in each one.

Solution-focused coaching

It comes from the solution-focused brief therapy that Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg developed starting in the late 1970s. Instead of analyzing the problem, it works with the preferred future, the exceptions (moments when the problem doesn't happen) and 0 to 10 scales. OSKAR is its best-known coaching model.

Cognitive-behavioral coaching

It applies ideas from cognitive therapy and rational emotive behavior therapy to non-clinical goals: how the client interprets a situation shapes what they feel and do. The coach helps the client identify the belief, test it against the evidence and try a more useful one. The ABC model is its classic tool, and it works especially well with limiting beliefs.

Co-Active coaching

Developed by Laura Whitworth, Henry Kimsey-House and Karen Kimsey-House, the founders of the Co-Active Training Institute, it treats coach and client as equal partners and assumes the client already has the resources to find their own answers. It works on three areas: fulfillment, balance and process. It is a methodology for life coaching more than a step model.

Ontological coaching

Born from the work of Fernando Flores, Julio Olalla and Rafael Echeverría, it starts from the idea that we act according to the observer we are: when the client changes the way they see a situation, new actions become possible. It works with language, emotion and body. Read more in the guide to ontological coaching.

Powerful questions: the tool that crosses all models

No model works without good questions. Powerful questions are the cross-cutting technique that supports all practice: open questions, non-judgmental, that make the client think rather than give them the answer. "What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?" moves more than any advice.

Mastering the art of questioning is what separates a coach from an advisor. In each phase of GROW, OSKAR or CLEAR, the quality of your question determines the quality of the reflection. You have a complete repertoire in the article on powerful questions in coaching, and the techniques that go with them (listening, silence, scaling) are in the guide to coaching techniques.

Feedback models: closing the learning loop

Feedback is not exclusive to executive coaching: it's part of how the client integrates what they've learned. There are specific models for structuring it, such as SBI (Situation, Behavior, Impact), the sandwich model or strength-based feedback. Each one serves a different context depending on the level of trust and type of message.

If you work with leaders and teams, mastering these models is essential, because your client is going to replicate them with their own people. Compare the approaches in the guide on feedback models in coaching.

GROUP Model and team coaching

When the client is not a person but a team, individual models fall short. The GROUP model adapts the GROW logic to collective work: shared goals, group reality, options agreed upon and commitments with assigned roles. It relies on tools for team dynamics, roles and agreements.

Team coaching adds layers that individual work doesn't have: psychological safety, trust, communication between members. That's why team coaches combine a structural model with group dynamics and team health evaluation frameworks.

Appreciative Inquiry: the 4 D's (or 5 D's) of change

Appreciative Inquiry was developed by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva at Case Western Reserve University in the 1980s. It was born in organizational development, and coaching adopted it later. Instead of fixing what fails, it builds on what already works. Its cycle has four phases: Discovery (what works at its best), Dream (what could be), Design (what it should look like) and Destiny (how to make it happen). Many practitioners add a fifth D at the start, Define, to agree on the topic, which is why you will also see it as the 5 D's.

It suits teams and organizations going through change, and individual clients whose confidence is low. The origin of this and other acronyms is in the guide to coaching frameworks and acronyms.