STEPPA Coaching Model: Angus McLeod's 7 Steps Explained

The STEPPA coaching model is a session structure created by Angus McLeod that puts the client's emotion at the centre of goal work: Subject, Target, Emotion, Perception (and choice), Plan, Pace and Act or Adapt. McLeod introduced it with three Ps, as STEPPPA, in his book Performance Coaching (2003), and STEPPA is the shortened spelling you will see just as often.

Its most useful part is a question other models ask late or skip entirely: does the client actually care about this goal, or do they only think they should? This guide covers what each letter means according to the original source, how to run each step, a full worked example and when it serves you better than GROW or CLEAR.

In STEPPA, the client's emotional energy decides whether a goal will hold.

Who created the STEPPA model, and why does it have two names?

STEPPA comes from Angus McLeod, a coach and author focused on performance coaching. He introduces it as his own model in Performance Coaching: The Handbook for Managers, H.R. Professionals and Coaches, published by Crown House in 2003. In the book's introduction he calls it "STEPPPA", with three Ps, and develops it in a dedicated chapter. Years later, with Will Thomas, he devoted a whole practical book to it, Performance Coaching Toolkit (Open University Press, 2010), with one chapter per element of the model and a STEPPPA question bank.

Sources: the official look-inside excerpt of Performance Coaching (Crown House), where McLeod introduces "my own STEPPPA coaching model", and the table of contents of Performance Coaching Toolkit at McGraw Hill, with one chapter per letter.

The STEPPA versus STEPPPA difference is purely a matter of spelling: some writers fold Plan and Pace into a single P, others keep them apart. The content is the same. To place it next to GROW, OSKAR or CLEAR, see our overview of coaching models.

What does each letter of STEPPA stand for?

How do you use STEPPA step by step?

S: narrow the subject

The subject works as a small contract: it sets the boundaries of the conversation and gives you a point to come back to if it drifts. A client who says "I want to sort my life out" does not have a subject yet. "I want to decide whether to accept the promotion I have been offered" does.

T: name the target

On that subject, what outcome is the client after? The usual tools for sharpening it apply here, such as SMART goals. But in STEPPA the target is provisional: it still has to pass the test of the next letter.

E: check the emotional energy

This is the letter that sets STEPPA apart. Once the target is defined, the coach explores what the client feels about it. If there is enthusiasm, that emotion fuels the rest of the process. If fear, guilt or indifference show up, they need looking at before going further: the target may not be the client's own, it may be badly framed, or a belief may be holding it back. Sometimes the conclusion is to change the target, and that is a good session outcome too.

• "From 1 to 10, how much does achieving this matter to you?"
• "What emotion comes up when you think about the first step?"
• "If you do not achieve it, what happens? And how does that sit with you?"

P: widen perception and choose

With a target that has energy behind it, it is time to open things up: how other people involved see it, what impact it will have around the client, what different routes exist. The coach does not choose for the client; they help the client see more options before settling on one.

P and P: plan and pace

The plan is the steps; the pace is the timescales and milestones for each one. Keeping them apart makes sense: many clients know what to do but come unstuck on the when, because they set heroic deadlines or none at all. A timeline with two or three interim milestones is usually enough. To turn the plan into concrete tasks, see the guide to building an action plan in one session.

A: act or adapt

The last letter is a fork. If the client is ready, they act. If, going over the plan, they notice their emotional commitment has dropped, it is time to adapt: go back to emotion, reframe the target or adjust the pace. The model can loop back like this more than once.

Why is emotion the letter that makes STEPPA different?

Most session models treat emotion as something that slips into the conversation. STEPPA turns it into a named step, placed right after setting the target and before looking for routes. The order matters in practice: a target with no emotional energy behind it tends to produce flawless plans that never get carried out.

Working this step takes practice. You need to be comfortable with the client's emotional expression without turning the session into therapy. If you want more grounding, read the guides to emotional management in coaching and Plutchik's wheel of emotions. And when what surfaces is "I will never manage it", it is time to work on limiting beliefs.

What does a STEPPA session look like? An example

Andrew, 41, wants to talk about the promotion to department head he has been offered:

• Subject. Decide whether to accept the promotion before Friday.
• Target. "Accept it and do it well."
• Emotion. Picturing himself in the role, he says he feels "more pressure than excitement". What excites him is the salary; what weighs on him is giving up the technical work he enjoys. The target shifts: "decide whether I want a management role or to grow as a specialist".
• Perception. He finds a third route he had not considered: asking whether a senior specialist role exists.
• Plan. Request a meeting with his director and prepare three questions.
• Pace. Meeting on Wednesday; decision on Friday.
• Act. He sends the meeting request from his phone before the session ends.

Without the E step, the session would have produced a good plan for accepting a job Andrew did not want.

STEPPA, GROW or CLEAR: which should you choose?

When should you use STEPPA, and when not?

Use it when the client has a goal they "should" want but are not moving on, when they have left several plans half-done, or when you notice a gap between what they say and how they say it. It also works well in performance and career coaching, where the goal is often set by the employer and it pays to check whether the client has made it their own.

It is not the best choice for a short, highly practical session, or for a client who arrives with a clear goal and plenty of energy. There the E step takes a minute and GROW gets you the same result in fewer steps. And if the emotion that surfaces goes beyond the scope of coaching, refer the client to someone qualified.

How do you work with STEPPA in CoachPro Tools?

CoachPro Tools has no template called STEPPA, but existing modules cover its steps. There are 19 tools in the Emotional Management category for the E step, within a catalogue of +309 interactive tools. The Timeline lets you mark milestones, sessions, achievements and obstacles, which suits plan and pace. Commitments from the A step go on the agreements kanban with a date, and Live Notes keeps a record of what came up at each step.

Frequently asked questions about the STEPPA model

Sources

• McLeod, A. (2003). Performance Coaching: The Handbook for Managers, H.R. Professionals and Coaches. Crown House Publishing. Official excerpt (PDF).
• McLeod, A. and Thomas, W. (2010). Performance Coaching Toolkit. Open University Press. Listing and contents at McGraw Hill.
• Businessballs: STEPPPA coaching. A description of each element of the model.
• Training Journal: "The coaching model library: STEPPPA" (2018).